Naruto the Chakra Sage
by Corruptmonk
Summary: Naruto took to discovering his chakra one step further...he became obsessed with it. Welcome Konoha's Chakra Sage! Powerful-Naruto. Smart-Naruto. Good-Kyuubi/Kurama. No Bashing!
1. Chapter 1

**This is a story that I have been working on and off for quite some time now while in the middle of a work project during my spare time in the field. If you're asking why I haven't updated my stories, simple, I don't have my laptop available that holds all of my other stories so I'm using my Samsung Galaxy Tab to work on this new one. Quite an accomplishment if you ask me since typing in a 7.0 tab can be a challenge. Anyway, enjoy!**

**To my loyal fans and readers, other stories will be updated once my work project is finish (sometime around Mid-August if all goes well). **

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**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. (Don't you just get tired of writing disclaimers at the beginning of each chapter? I do but what can you do?)**

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**Chapter 1**

Naruto was sporting a dazed, yet content look on his face as he finally unlocked his chakra. He was currently in his second week of his first year in the Konoha Shinobi Academy, Iruka finally getting down to teaching them how to find and unlock their chakra for the first time. Despite being in a constant sugar rush, Naruto persevered through the meditation process to find the 'warm thing in your stomach', as Iruka described a first-timers sensing of chakra in their bodies. He found it, brought it out, and felt like he was in heaven when the warm sensation flooded his body.

The blonde Uzumaki continued to wallow in the serenity of his newly-discovered chakra when he was brought out of it by the shout of his Academy sensei.

"NARUTO!" Iruka shouted that destroyed Naruto's concentration, thus letting go of his chakra as it went back into his stomach though he could still feel the lingering warmth inside him.

"Huh?" Naruto asked stupidly, head still in the clouds.

"You were overdoing it." Iruka berated the boy though he wasn't doing it out of anger, more along the line of curiosity and amazement.

"I did?" Naruto asked dumbfounded. He looked around to see that his classmates were looking at him incredulously. "What?"

"You have too much chakra that it was practically visible." Iruka replied with a shake of his head.

"Oh!" Naruto said in surprise before he looked at his teacher in confusion. "Is that a bad thing?"

Iruka sighed before shaking his head.

"No, it's not a bad thing but if you bring out that much chakra then it is quite possible that you'll end up exhausted. Chakra exhaustion is very dangerous so you should be careful."

"Why is chakra exhaustion bad, sensei?" asked someone in class.

"Chakra exhaustion is what happens when you use too much of your chakra and hit the lowest point of your reserves. In most cases, you will just knock yourself unconscious since your body will automatically shut down just to keep your alive." Iruka told the class seriously.

"Won't it just refill again?" another student asked.

"Yes and no. Yes, your chakra will refill in time. However, I answered no because there is a limit. Keep in mind that chakra is a combination of physical and spiritual energy. If you empty your chakra reserves then you will either suffer chakra exhaustion, or in worst cases, die because your body has no more energy to keep it going."

This revelation scared the class into silence except for Uzumaki Naruto. As Iruka rambled on about chakra and its uses, the whiskered blonde loved the feeling of chakra and was practically excited to learn everything he could about this strange, yet useful energy that was a part of a shinobi's arsenal. Many label him an idiot, dead-last, or a knuckle head; but there was one thing about Naruto that only Iruka knew. If he found something interesting then he would do everything in his power to keep it, bringing out a level of intelligence that was rare for a six year old to have.

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Naruto carefully made his way deep into the library, inwardly snickering for fooling the librarian of his real identity. He mastered the _Henge_ already, changed into a nondescript civilian in order to enter the library. Normally, anyone could enter the library but his status as the village pariah (they hated him for some reason) made it almost impossible to enter stores and public areas without getting kicked out or glared at. He found it scary at first before his fear turned into something similar to apathy. After being subjected for years, he learned to just ignore it.

He made his way to the shelf where the librarian directed him that contained basic shinobi information. Konoha Library was divided into two floors. The first floor was the civilian section where most of the books were on general subjects that civilians learn though there were a few on shinobi to give the civilian populace an idea what the career entails. The second floor was exclusive to shinobi only and you need to be one in order to enter. Since he was still an Academy student, he decided to look for any information about chakra since there should be some scrolls or books about it in the civilian section. He doubted that he could effectively pull off a fool-proof disguise that would fool the Chuunin guarding the entrance. He might be obsessed with learning about chakra but he wasn't that desperate to do something that would get him in trouble, especially with the Sandaime Hokage, his surrogate grandfather.

It took him two hours to finally find the right books to read. The first one was a documentary on shinobi – abilities, responsibilities, and the likes. The second book was a basic history and study of shinobi. The third was a scroll containing basic information on chakra and how shinobi uses it for jutsus. Naruto wanted to immediately read the latter but he decided to go through all three of them to make sure he didn't miss anything.

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Naruto was bored. He was currently hanging out in his surrogate grandfather's office since there was nothing to do at home. He spent the whole morning in the library to see if there were more books on chakra, and to his dismay, he couldn't find anything he hadn't read before. Because of this he decided to hang out at the Hokage's office, practicing the Leaf Sticking exercise Iruka-sensei taught his class two months before the first year ended. He was currently sticking five leaves on his body – one on his forehead, two on both sides of his cheeks, one on his chin, and the last one on his shoulder. He sighed as he pulled out another leaf from his pocket and stuck it on the other shoulder, concentrating a bit of his chakra to the area for the leaf to stick.

"Bored, Naruto-kun?" asked the Sandaime, puffing on his pipe while taking a break from doing all the paperwork. "Diligent in practicing your chakra exercise I see."

"I got nothing to do else to do, jiji." replied Naruto as he added another leaf to the exercise, this time placing it on his neck. This exercise was getting ridiculously easy though he couldn't deny the fact that he liked the feeling of his chakra being active in his body as he subtly manipulated it across his skin. He heard from Iruka that there were other chakra control exercises but those were taught once they graduated from the Academy.

"Hm, why don't you read something? I know you like to read since Iruka told me you tend to read during your break time in the Academy." the Sandaime pointed out. He was receiving regular reports from the Academy and he was surprised that the boy was quite studious, a complete opposite of what he knew of the boy before attending the Academy. It would seem Naruto decided to channel his excess energy to something constructive.

"I already read most of the shinobi books in the library and I don't have access to the second floor since I'm still an Academy student." Naruto said with a shrug.

"That is true." the Sandaime agreed before an idea occurred to him. "I got some basic books on the shinobi arts here somewhere. Maybe you want to read that."

Naruto perked up at the Hokage's offer. He nodded his head eagerly causing the Sandaime to chuckle before walking over to the shelf in the corner and pulled out a book before handing it to him. Naruto curiously checked out the title – _The Basic of the Shinobi Arts by Sarutobi Hiruzen_.

"You wrote this book, jiji?" Naruto asked amazement.

"That I did. That was one of my projects after I spent a few months teaching at the Academy before the Nidaime handed me the Hokage position. I noticed the lack of texts so I decided to write one." Sarutobi answered.

"Thanks, jiji." said Naruto before making his way to the lone chair in the corner and sat down, opening to the book and started to read, oblivious to the amuse, yet proud expression on the Hokage's face.

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Naruto spent the whole summer before his second year reading the book his surrogate grandfather lent him. It offered a wealth of information about the different shinobi arts. Naruto was a bit dismayed that it didn't really teach him anything specific but the details of the different shinobi arts was enough to keep him interested.

He learned that chakra was the fuel of many shinobi techniques.

Taijutsu required chakra pumped to the muscles to increase their speed, improve their offense and defense, as well as use advance taijutsu moves. One example of this was the Hyuuga's Juuken.

Ninjutsu required chakra molded through the use of hand seals to manipulate it for certain effects. An example of this was elemental jutsus or supplementary jutsu, like the Henge, Kawarimi, and Bunshin.

Genjutsu was similar to ninjutsu but was geared into molding chakra to form illusions.

Fuuinjutsu , or the Art of Sealing, requires chakra to activate and deactivate seals.

Kenjutsu, or the Art of the Sword, was similar to taijutsu but Kenjutu Masters utilize chakra to reinforce their weapon or transforming their chakra into different elements to release devastating attacks.

Naruto was intrigued as he digested the information, liking the idea of utilizing his chakra to do all these things. However, he knew for a fact that he was still a beginner and couldn't hope to do what the books used as an example. Sure, he could do the _Henge_ but he knew that he was still too young to go beyond that. That was why he attended the Academy, to go through the curriculum, training to become a shinobi at a leisurely pace.

After finishing his book (getting quizzed by the Hokage to make sure that he learned something from it and answering all of his questions perfectly), the Sandaime offered Naruto the chance to check out the different books in his library. However, he was limited to what he could read since quite a lot of them were too advanced for him. Another condition was a solemn promise that he wouldn't attempt any of what he read without the Hokage's permission. Naruto didn't have any problem with that since he was more concerned on learning the basics than bowling his way to the application aspect of the shinobi arts.

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Naruto was currently lying on the floor of his apartment, one of his feet sticking to the wall. He pulled it off the wall then placed it back again, turning the chakra flow on and off to test the amount and his reaction speed. He learned of the next step of the Leaf Sticking exercise when he asked the Sandaime about it after he saw a few shinobi walking on a vertical surface. His interest peaked when the aged leader informed him that it was a chakra control exercise taught to Genins after they graduated from the Academy. The Hokage didn't tell him anything in detail but Naruto was able to read between the lines that chakra was required to stick to the surface. Considering that he was obsessed with chakra, Naruto wasn't stupid to let this new information go.

He raised his other foot and channeled the right amount of chakra before sticking it to the wall. He tried to walk up the surface but the strain of defying gravity proved too much for his seven year old body to handle. He got halfway up the wall until he got too tired to keep it up. He made a mental note to start training his body. After all, it was useless to learn how to walk on walls if he didn't have the body strength to pull it off.

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Since it was the weekend, Naruto went to the library under disguise to check out some physical training exercise, combing the civilian section for any information to get him started.

He asked Iruka-sensei about it and all he got was _"If you want to improve your body to prepare yourself when you become a shinobi then you need a balanced diet so you would grow properly, practice the katas of the Academy taijutsu style to hone your muscles, and regular physical exercise to increase your strength, speed, and stamina."_

Despite his boring monologues, Iruka was a fount of information when it comes to the shinobi art. Dissecting what the Academy teacher told him, he needed to eat a balanced meal. The problem with this was his status in the village. He had no problems with money since he was given a weekly allowance due to his status as an orphan and he hardly used any of it except for his stock of instant ramen or pigging out at Ichiraku. However, his main problem stems from the fact that the shops would usually chase him out of their stores before he could get a word out. His first solution was to use the _Henge_ but he knew that wouldn't work since most of the shops employed shinobi to make sure they wouldn't get swindled.

His eyes took on an unholy gleam when he saw a section that showcases different jobs that a civilian could go into. He curiously skimmed through the pages until he found the one he needed.

If he wanted food then he needed two things – he needed to learn how to hunt since Konoha was surrounded by forest, which meant plenty of animals for him to hunt. He could easily use the spacious clearing behind his apartment to plant vegetables.

This solved the ingredients needed for a balanced diet but he needed to learn how to cook to pull this off. He grabbed a book on hunting and gardening before making his way to another section for a book on cooking. He made a mental note to ask the Hokage if he knew of a place that sold kitchen supplies since he had no idea where to get tools for cooking.

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A 9-year old Naruto watched the school of fish in the water with extreme focus. When one of them came into range, his finger twitched causing a string of blue energy to wrap around the fish before it was speedily pulled out of the water to land on a few of its flopping kin on the soft patch of grass. Deciding that it was enough, Naruto cut off the flow of chakra to his finger, dispersing the string into the air. He made his way to his catch for the day and proceeded do a few hand seals before breathing out a stream of fire from his mouth to ignite the wood he piled together surrounded rocks to keep it contained. He was currently in a 2-day camping trip in one of the few training grounds outside Konoha. The fourth Academy year would be starting in a week so he decided to just relax and enjoy some quality time to himself while squeezing a few hours of training if he was in the mood.

Who was he kidding? He was always in the mood for training.

As he waited for his lunch to cook, he looked back on his memories as to how he steadily improved in his study of chakra.

He started his balanced diet using what he learned from the library and a few helpful hints from Iruka and the Hokage. He hunted deer and rabbit outside the village, learned to skin and clean them before cooking. He also set up a good size vegetable garden in a hidden clearing behind his apartment that was yielding quite a harvest under his care. He also discovered that he was quite talented in cooking and was further improved when Teuchi taught him everything he needed to know about managing the kitchen, which spices to use, how to slice vegetables and meat, and so on. Despite his healthy diet, he still pigged out on ramen a few times, mostly one day a week since he had plenty of money saved up. Since he was no longer buying overpriced food, he barely touched his allowance, only using it for supplies and training equipments.

Naruto also created a physical training program of sorts to help improve core strength and speed. He already mastered the Academy taijutsu style and dutifully performed the katas everyday to commit them to muscles memory. He learned from Iruka that the Academy style was not a proper style, but more along the line of an introduction to hand-to-hand combat with an option to expand on them by incorporating known styles or coming up with a new one. He already came up with a few moves that incorporated chakra for attack and defense. The training dummy he subjected it to didn't survive the experiment.

He also came up with a list of exercises to keep himself in shape, like push-ups, sit-ups, sprinting, jogging, and training weights to improve his core strength (he purchased a few training equipments when traders set up shop outside Konoha a week every month). Iruka warned him about the latter since too much weight lifting might slow his growth so Naruto merely started with 10 pounds every day and slowly adding 2 pounds each month. The growth was slow but it showed results without hindering his potential.

Thanks to his physical training, Naruto discovered that his overly large chakra reserves grew. He found out that as his chakra amount grew, the more it was necessary to fine tune his control over them. He visited a few training ground and watched Jounins train their students in the shinobi arts. Naruto discovered water walking and listened attentively as the exercises was demonstrated. It took Naruto a month to master water walking compared to two weeks of tree climbing. He found it difficult since he had training weights on top of his body weight that slowed down his progress. Also, the exercise took longer since he had limited time to practice water walking due to the lack of water source deep enough to practice on.

Aside from physical training and chakra control, Naruto also trained himself in the use of chakra. He didn't bother learning ninjutsu (except for the _Fire Stream Jutsu_ that was a D-rank for starting camp fires) since he was too young to do so and it was dangerous to experiment. There were a lot of things that could go wrong when trying out elemental techniques. He had no plans of blowing himself up, thank you very much. He learned that genjutsu was a big problem for him due to his large chakra reserves. Such was the case; he concentrated on trying to shape his chakra similar to how shinobi use the energy for various purposes. His inspiration was when the Sandaime told him about the puppet users of Suna, using chakra strings to move and fight using puppets. It took a year for Naruto to create a stable chakra string with all ten fingers and a few more months after that to get some decent use out of them.

Deciding that one of the fish was already cooked he grabbed one and started eating before pulling out a notebook from his pocket. The notebook was his training journal – everything he did during his training was dutifully written down for future reference, as well as a to-do list so he won't be forgetting anything important. His eyes strayed to the latter.

_Fourth Year Training Program_

_1. Water Walking (Done)_

_2. Increase Body Weights to 15 pounds (Done)_

_3. Find Uses for Chakra Strings (Partially Done)_

_4. Find Books on Fuuinjutsu (Ask jiji if he has any or if he could borrow them)_

_5. Ask Iruka-sensei for advance taijutsu scrolls (if allowed)_

Naruto sighed when he saw the fourth entry on his to-do list, his mind coming up with ways to convince his surrogate grandfather to lend him basic sealing books for him to study. Since ninjutsu and genjutsu were out of his reach, Naruto decided to study Fuuinjutsu instead since most of it was theoretical and supplementary. Besides, he saw some of the Jounins use seals to store items and found it cool. He decided to add that to his training program if he could find a good book about it.

He closed his notebook with a clear view of what this year would entail as he reached for another fish. After his lunch, he would go back to experimenting with his chakra strings to get some good use out of them instead of using it as a fishing line. He planned to use chakra strings as a combat weapon, possibly making them fine enough or sharp enough to cut through objects. The thought made him giddy.

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A 12-year old Naruto was currently waiting for his turn in the taijutsu portion of the Graduation Exam. The first part was a written test that he breezed through. Really, the amount of time he spent reading in advance practically helped in that regard. The second portion was the weapons proficiency exam that involved throwing kunais and shurikens in designated targets. He scored a perfect score. The current exam was taijutsu where he would pitied against another Genin of Iruka's choice. The last portion was ninjutsu that involved the three Academy jutsus – _Henge_, _Kawarimi_, and _Bunshin_. He was struggling with the latter but his modified chakra control exercises saw to that.

"Uzumaki Naruto and Homura Kaito." Iruka called out.

Naruto pushed himself off the wall and made his way to the ring in the middle of the training ground. He smiled briefly to a few friends he made while ignoring the murmurs from the rest. He was slated to be Rookie of the Year thanks to his outstanding performance and it would be solidified if he scored the highest in all of the exams. He had a bored look on his face as he stood in front of his opponent, a rather muscular 12-year old from the civilian stock. Naruto remembered the boy to be a bully and wondered how the he passed the previous exams being a certified idiot who was all muscles and no brains.

"Ready?" asked Iruka, getting a nod from the two combatants. "Hajime!"

As the signal came out of Iruka's mouth, Naruto disappeared from his spot in a burst of speed to appear behind the unsuspecting Kaito who was stupidly looking at the spot in front of him. He unleashed a barrage of punches before ending it with a double palm thrust that pushed the boy out of the ring, already unconscious before he could hit the ground.

Naruto calmly placed his hands in his pocket as he strolled out of the ring with Iruka announcing the winner of the match.

"Winner! Uzumaki Naruto!" Iruka announced proudly. His friends clapped and cheered while the rest looked at him fearfully.

After all, he just knocked out the brute in two seconds flat without effort.

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"Congratulations, Naruto-kun." the Sandaime congratulated his surrogate grandson. "Scoring first place for five years then gaining the Rookie of the Year award. You're definitely something else, my boy."

"Stop that, jiji. You're making me blush." Naruto said with an absolutely straight face though the side of his lips was twitching in amusement. "So, why did you call me here, old man? I'm supposed to be in the Academy for Team Assignment."

"I know but it's irrelevant for you to attend since you won't be assigned a team."

"What?" Naruto exclaimed in shock. "I'm already a Genin so why am I not being assigned to a team."

The Hokage leveled Naruto a look.

"Despite your glowing report in the Academy, I know your strength is already above Genin level, Naruto-kun. Give me some credit."

"I don't know what you're talking about, jiji." Naruto said guiltily.

"You might be the Rookie of the Year and held the highest score in the Academy since Uchiha Itachi, but you were never good in lying." the Sandaime said with a grin. "So tell me, Naruto-kun, how are your experiments with chakra coming along?"

"Uh…um…I don't know what you're talking about, jiji. He he he." Naruto answered the Hokage though his eyes were darting all over the place as if looking for an escape route.

"You don't have to hide anything from me, my boy. In all honesty, I am quite proud of your skills and discovery. You're definitely a prodigy in the shinobi arts." The Hokage assured the boy who was looking at him with resignation.

"How did you know?" Naruto asked with a sigh. Five years of secrecy all for naught. Damn sneaky old coot.

"How did I know that you are experimenting on chakra and already adept in fuuinjutsu?" asked the Sandaime making Naruto nod. "That's…a secret."

"Damn you, old man." Naruto fumed, deciding to drop this now since he didn't want to reveal anything specific. "So, if I don't get a team, what am I going to do?"

"You won't be getting a team because I will be signing you up for an apprenticeship."

"Apprenticeship?" Naruto asked curiously.

"There are currently 16 graduates in the Academy so there is one extra. If I assign you to a team then that team would be overpowered. The only solution I could think off without putting you on reserve is to sign you up for an apprenticeship under a Tokubetsu Jounin."

"Oh! That's sounds nice. Who's going to be my sensei?" Naruto asked in excitement.

"That depends on what you want to specialize on. You see, apprenticeship is mostly according to what skills you want to develop. I already picked out some subjects that might interest you."

"What are they?"

"Stealth and Assassination, Elemental Ninjutsu, Kenjutsu or Weapon Mastery, Genjutsu, or Advanced Taijutsu. You pick one and I'll tell you who your sensei would be."

Naruto mulled the options in his mind.

"Stealth and Assassination sounds nice since I'm lacking in that area. Ninjutsu is also a good subject to learn since I am mostly restricted to chakra-based techniques though that can be remedied with a trip to the library. I'm already allowed right?" he asked the Hokage who nodded. Since he was already a Genin, he could enter the shinobi section without a problem. "I don't need a taijutsu master since I already have my own style and I'm only lacking in experience to really master it. I suck at genjutsu despite my advanced chakra control. I have too much chakra to deal with." He gave the Hokage a look. "We are going to talk about that later. Anyway, kenjutsu is a possibility but if you want my decision, I think I'll pick Stealth and Assassination."

The Hokage nodded before pulling out scroll from his drawer and tossing it to the blonde. "Meet your sensei at Training Ground 44 tomorrow at 8 in the morning. I'll inform her later of your acceptance. Give her that scroll since I assigned your apprenticeship as an A-rank long-term mission" he said before his face grew curious. "What do you want to talk to me about?"

"When are you going to tell me that I house the Kyuubi?" asked Naruto as the Sandaime paled.

"H-How did you know that? How did you find out?" the Hokage asked, inwardly fuming as to who told Naruto the secret. He was already coming up with ways to make that person suffer.

"I studied my chakra for six years, old man." Naruto deadpanned. "I found out that I have two types of chakra – one of them is my own while the other is from another source. Some of the villagers kept muttering about 'Demon' when I pass by so I connected the dot. Did a bit of research and voila, Uzumaki Naruto is the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Yoko that attacked Konoha 12 years ago. So when were you planning to tell me?"

The Hokage sighed.

"To be honest, I planned to tell you after our conversation today. Since you made Genin, you're no longer part of the civilian council so I can easily protect you if push comes to shove once you know your status as a bijuu container." he admitted to the boy who nodded, as if he already knew what he was going to say.

"Understandable, I guess." Naruto agreed. "The civilian council can be a pain in the ass and I know they've been giving you hell over me. Which reminds me, are you also going to tell me that I'm the son of the Yondaime Hokage?"

The Sandaime groaned "I don't think I need to ask how you know. You're too smart for your own good." He said while giving the cheekily grinning blonde a look.

"Don't blame me if the proof is out in broad daylight." Naruto smirked before pulling out a black book. He flipped a few pages before holding it up beside his face, the picture of the Yondaime beside his own. "Get rid of the whisker marks and make my hair longer, you have a carbon copy of the Yondaime. His face is also plastered on the Hokage Monument and I see my dad's face every day. It also didn't help that the Yondaime did the sealing. So yes, I know I'm his son. My question is how come you didn't tell me?"

"You're taking this way too calmly. I'm expecting you to blow up or shout. Heck, I was expecting my office to blow up." The aged leader asked with some surprise.

"Meh, shouting at you won't solve anything. However, I want to know why you didn't tell me and when you planned to tell me." Naruto urged since he had no plans for the old man to change subject. He wanted and needed to know.

"Well, I planned to tell you when you reached Chuunin. The reason why I didn't tell you is because of your father's enemies. If Iwa and Kumo found out that you're Minato's son, you'd be swamped with assassins and threats every day. If you don't know then you won't accidentally blurt out the information. If you reached Chuunin then I know you're strong enough to take care of yourself." Sarutobi explained.

"Reasonable." Naruto agreed with the Sandaime's idea. He looked at the man curiously. "Did my father leave me anything?"

"Actually, he did." said Sandaime before going to a seemingly blank wall and did a few hand seals. The wall blurred revealing a metal safe. He bit his thumb to draw blood before swiping it on the surface. There was a loud click that signified the lock being opened. He reached inside to retrieve a thick blue scroll and tossed it to Naruto who caught it easily. He returned to his chair and took out his pipe, lighting it with a small fire jutsu. "Minato left that in my care for you. Those contain your inheritance, so to speak. Your father is a very wealthy man thanks to his years as a successful shinobi. There should be a seal there that contained all of his earnings, his jutsu scrolls, fuuinjutsu notes, and information on two of his prized techniques, the Rasengan and Hiraishin. Only someone of his blood can open it since he created that scroll with a blood lock."

"Sweet." exclaimed Naruto, almost drooling at the prospect of learning his father's techniques and notes on fuuinjutsu. "How about my mother?"

"Your mother was Uzumaki Kushina. She was the second container of the Kyuubi and died the night you were born. She didn't leave anything but her things should be in your parent's home." said the Sandaime before writing something on a piece of paper before handing it to a curious Naruto. "That's the address of their house. It is located in the forest behind Training Ground 41. The house is hidden by an illusion barrier of your parents design. Look for a tree with the Uzumaki symbol on it and place some of your blood there. That should deactivate the barrier temporarily so you can get in."

"Wow! I didn't know that my parents were that good with fuuinjutsu." Naruto said in amazement.

The Hokage chuckled in amusement. "Both Minato and Kushina were prodigy in the sealing arts, especially your mother. Actually, I'm not surprised that you took up fuuinjutsu and excelled in it considering that it's practically in your blood."

"That's a good point." Naruto said before standing up and pocketing his father's scroll. He was going to go through it tonight. "I guess I'll call it a day, jiji. If you need me for anything, you know where to find me."

With his farewell said, Naruto exited the room using modified Shunshin, instead of smoke and leaves, he left behind a swirl of blue chakra that dissipated into the air.

"Show off." murmured the Hokage before going back to his work.

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**End of Chapter 1**

**Love it? Like it? Hate it? Leave a review to let me know.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Aaaaaand here's chapter 2. LOLs. ^_^ Enjoy!**

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**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. **

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**Chapter 2: **

A 15-year old Naruto was observing the large bandit camp below him, his hand toying with the stray strand of hair hanging on his forehead. His trademark spiky hairstyle was now sleek that reached the middle of his back and tied at the end to make it more manageable. He got a lot of ribbing from the Hokage that it made him look like a girl but he didn't care. It made him look cool so yeah he didn't care what the old man said.

It had been two years since he became a Genin, a year after his apprenticeship with Mitarashi Anko in the art of stealth and assassination. He didn't know why but he liked the sadistic kunoichi as she trained him, helping him gain fighting experience in order to master his Chakra Fist style. Due to his strength, he wasn't given a team but worked with other Genin teams for C-rank missions and up. Heck, he was even partnered with a few Chuunin or a Jounin for an A-rank. His strength was proven with every mission and no one could deny the fact that he was more than capable despite his age and rank.

Even if was slated to be at Jounin level by his peers, Naruto didn't get promoted. He was actually qualified for promotion but he declined the offers. He just wasn't interested. In fact, he was quite content in being a Genin since he was more along the line of a scientist than a fighter. Well, in truth, he was a powerful fighter but it was hard to let go of his studying habits, researching, and experimentation with chakra. Actually, he was spreading himself a bit thin despite his shadow clones doing the brunt of the work since he was now perfecting Nature Transformation, not restricting himself to Fuuton (Wind) which was his main affinity, but all elements. Besides, he wasn't keen on limiting himself with wind alone.

Besides, ranks were irrelevant since no in other right mind would command him without proper authorization from the Hokage. He was labeled as a Tokubetsu Genin, specializing in hand-to-hand combat, stealth, and assassination, fuuinjutsu, and unparalleled control and manipulation of chakra. He planned to add elements to his portfolio but that was still in the future if he kept to his current pace.

Deciding that it was time to finish his mission so he could return to the village and get back to his many projects, Naruto jumped high up into the air with his arms raised to his sides. He landed in the middle camp as ten strings of bluish-green chakra extended from his hands before blurring out of sight, slicing the unprepared bandits to pieces as the strings floated through their bodies, leaving none of them alive.

Five minutes later, the camp was devoid of life except for him, a blonde haired shinobi decked in an unorthodox mix of the standard ANBU uniform and a white lab coat that reached down to his ankles. The coat was also designed with a high collar that made him look cooler than usual. On his back was the kanji for _Shinigami_ for the world to see.

Sighing at having to kill again (yes, he was used to killing but it didn't mean that he had to like it), he pulled out a pack of cigarette from his coat pocket and placed one in his mouth. He extended his thumb over to the end, channeling a bit of chakra causing a tiny flame to materialize. He dramatically waved his hand to get rid of the small fire and inhaled, sighing again as the calming smoke entered his lungs before breathing it out. He looked around and extended his senses just in case in missed a few which was unlikely.

Satisfied that that his quarry was silenced forever, he started walking out of the camp at a leisurely pace. When he was far enough, he sent a pulse of chakra that activated the exploding seals he applied to various areas around the camp while he was getting rid of the bandits. A large explosion rocked the area before a shockwave flew out in a ring. Not even bothered as the pressure and heat overtook him, Naruto continued to walk back Konoha while thinking how his clones were doing with his experiments. Behind him was a large crater that was once a large bandit camp, home to 150 bandits and thugs that terrorized the many merchants of the Elemental Nations.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Naruto grumbled as he made his way back to his apartment. He just finished a B-rank bandit extermination mission and the old coot had the audacity to assign him a new one. He couldn't say no since this was an emergency mission, a request for reinforcement and to save a bunch of snot-nosed Genins (even if he was one) as they pushed through their mission to protect a bridge builder from a tyrant businessman.

He entered his apartment just in time to catch a bundle of red fur that was about to bite his nose. He caught the animal by the scruff of its neck and looked at its red slit-like eyes.

"Good afternoon to you too, Kurama." Naruto greeted the now-unsealed Kyuubi. Thanks to his knowledge in seals, he was able to create a backdoor for the fox to be summoned from seal to the outside world though its powers were determined by Naruto's will. He already befriended the fox a year ago and the two enjoyed a relationship that many would find weird (they argue like a married couple, enemies one moment and friends the next). The only drawback to summoning Kyuubi out was his inability to use the bijuu's chakra if the fox wasn't in the cage. Naruto didn't care since he had no intentions of using Kurama's chakra unless the situation demands it.

"**Good my ass, you ape! Why didn't you take me with you? Did you know how bored I was staying here doing nothing but watch your clones blowing themselves up?"** Kurama growled out, his nine tails weaving behind him in agitation.

"It was a spur of the moment mission, Kurama, and jiji wanted it finished immediately so I didn't have time to come home and inform you, much less take you with me." replied Naruto as he placed the irate fox on his shoulder. One of Kurama's skills was shapeshifting so he could change his size from a hulking mass of destruction that towered a large village like Konoha to something the size of small fox. "How did you know I had a mission anyway? As far as I'm concerned, no one knows I accepted except for Hokage-ji-sama."

"**I visited the old coot when you didn't return for the night. He told me you went out for an emergency mission."** Kurama answered grumpily. Naruto already introduced Kurama to the Hokage. The old coot was shocked at first but eventually relaxed when Naruto informed him that he could control Kyuubi's power output. Kyuubi was currently at Jounin-level chakra capacity though it was more powerful compared to your average Jounin thanks to the potency of the bijuu's energy.

"Well, you're in luck. I'm going to Wave Country to bail Kakashi out. It seems that his client lied about the mission so instead of a C-rank escort mission, it is now an A-rank. You want to come?" Naruto asked calmly as he made his way to the armory to restock. Sure, he could make the necessary weapons using chakra on demand but sometimes having real ones were necessary. Chakra-made weapons tend to dissipate and not nearly as durable as the real thing but it was perfect to use if he was in a pinch and out of weapons. Thanks to his research, his father's notes, and training, he perfected and reached the pinnacle of shape manipulation that he could make any weapons he desired as a chakra construct. The Sandaime mentioned that his mother had something similar but this was in the form of chains strong enough to subdue Kyuubi at full strength thanks to her special Uzumaki bloodline.

Naruto was grumpy when he found that out. He could easily materialize the chains his mother used but it didn't have the power to subdue a bijuu (he tried that with Kurama and the fox laughed at his failure…stupid fox).

"**Interesting. Do you have any idea who we're going to face?"** Kurama asked eagerly. He was looking forward to a major battle or two. Sparing with Naruto tends to get boring even if it was fun. The last spar was a free-for-all between Naruto, Anko, and himself. It lasted for five hours with only him and Naruto remaining since Anko didn't have that much stamina as the two. She did make it fun by ambushing them with different attacks during the course of the spar which the two welcomed since it added a certain spice to their weekly contest.

"According to Kakashi's letter, they encountered the Demon Brothers on their way to Wave. If we go by their Bingo Book entry, we can safely say that we will be facing Momochi Zabuza, the Demon of the Bloody Mist. Easily an A-rank considering that he was one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist." answered Naruto as he started sealing kunais, senbons, pre-made modified seal tags, camping supplies, food, and a med kit into the storage tattoo on his palm. Unlike storage scrolls, seals tattooed or grafted on human skin were more potent, long lasting, and portable.

"**Good. It's been quite a while I had fun. Hopefully this…demon can give me a challenge."** Kurama huffed before taking his favorite perch on top of Naruto's head, not even worried about falling off with his container's movement since he was already used to it. It also helped that Naruto subconsciously channeled chakra to his head so Kurama wouldn't fall off, a basic application of the Leaf Sticking exercise that he mastered and perfected years ago.

Naruto rolled his eyes.

"His moniker described him as a demon. He's not real demon, Kurama." He deadpanned.

"**So? If he's good enough to be given the nickname then he should be something else." **Kurama said with sniff.

"You're just angry that you didn't get to spar with the Hokage last week since he turned down your offer to 'stretch your legs' and 'get rid of the kinks' with a little spar." Naruto said dryly causing the fox to growl in annoyance.

"**I don't know why he didn't take up my offer. It sure as hell beats doing paperwork all day. I bet that his ass is all wrinkled due to sitting down too much." **Kurama whined that made Naruto chuckle before frowning.

"You know, I could never understand why jiji didn't use shadow clones to finish his paperwork. It's a waste of resources." Naruto mused before making a face. "Please don't say that again. I have no intentions of being reminded of wrinkly old asses."

Kurama shuddered.

"**Noted. Are you going to tell him to use shadow clones for his paperwork? He looks a bit stressed when I visited him yesterday."**

"Meh, I'll tell him when we get back." said Naruto before using his top speed towards the North Gate to register his mission. He wanted to get this over and one with since one of his clones dispelled earlier to inform him of a breakthrough in one of his experiments. He couldn't wait to get back.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Kakashi was resisting the urge to palm his face. This mission was now officially an A-rank when Momochi Zabuza appeared. They easily took care of the Demon Brothers, Sasuke and Sai easily rounded the two up with Sakura guarding the client, but Zabuza was a whole new ball game to deal with. He was now in a defensive position in front of the client with his students taking the sides and back. They could all hear Zabuza's chuckle and taunts echoing around them while the fog obscured their vision, the rogue shinobi's killing intent saturating the area. He had to counter it with his own or his students wouldn't be able to stand. He made a mental note to get back to his old strength since being a Jounin definitely made him weaker.

The one-eyed Jounin was brought out of his musings when his instinct screamed at him. He raised his chakra-enforced kunai just in time to block Kubikiriboucho, Zabuza's zanbatou. The strength behind the attack numbed his arms but he was able to shove the large blade aside before maneuvering himself under the man's guard and stabbed at the exposed stomach. Instead of blood, water poured out of the wound before Zabuza collapsed into water. He cursed.

"Mizu Bunshin." Kakashi cursed when he felt a large blade sliced at his side. He turned into a puddle of water.

Zabuza watched Kakashi turned into a puddle of water before feeling something cold pressed to his neck.

"Impressive, Kakashi." Zabuza complimented calmly, not bothered by the kunai on his throat. "Even with my _Kirigakure no Jutsu_ active, you were still able to copy my technique and used it splendidly."

Kakashi didn't say anything, but instead, slit Zabuza's throat since he wanted the fight to end. He was quite surprised when Zabuza turned into water again and was about to go back into defensive when he felt something collide with his ribs. The strength of the kick threw him into the lake where the real Zabuza was waiting for him.

"Gotcha! _**Suiro no Jutsu!**_" shouted Zabuza as a sphere of water materialized around Kakashi, unable to move as his body was effectively trapped.

Seeing that there was no way for him to get out in time to save Tazuna and his students, Kakashi decided that it was best to retreat back to Konoha. However, before he could shout his orders, he heard a voice that made him sigh in relief.

Reinforcement has arrived.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

It took two hours at top speed to get to Wave Country. Since he didn't have any boat handy to traverse the open waters, he merely skated all the way to the island using a variation of the Water Walking exercise. Kurama was able to find Kakashi's scent that led to a mist-covered area.

"They're in there?" Naruto asked Kurama as he tried to sense anything behind the mist. He couldn't get a decent reading since the mist was so thick with chakra that it was almost impossible to see through. Heck, even someone with a _Byakugan_ would have problems seeing through the mist. Zabuza definitely deserved his A-rank.

"**Positive. This mist might have screwed your chakra sense but not mine. I can sense two individuals with Jounin-level chakra reserves, two low-Chunnin, one average, and one civilian."** Kurama reported.

"Ah. The two Jounin would be Kakashi and Zabuza. The low-Chuunin should be the Last Uchiha and possibly one of Kakashi's brats, same goes with the average one, and the last would be the client." Naruto listed down. "Alright then, I guess we need to take care of the fog."

"**Why don't you just blast it away with one of your Fuuton jutsus or I can even do it for you if you're feeling lazy."** Kurama offered solicitously.

"It's alright. I've been meaning to test this seal array for some time now and this is the perfect chance to do so." said Naruto as he raised his hands, the index fingers outstretched and glowed with chakra. With the speed of a Seal Master, the hands and fingers moved in intricate patterns as the chakra was directed to draw a large seal. Unlike ordinary Seal Masters that uses ink and paper for their art, Naruto was above such restriction. Using his mastery of Shape Manipulation, Naruto could make seals on the fly using his chakra alone. In a span of a minute, there was a large seal floating in the air in front of him, in the middle was a kanji of 'Absorb' glowing eerily amidst the foggy background. "Here goes. _**Uzumaki Fuuinjutsu: Kyushu no Fuuin!"**_

The large seal glowed before a small vacuum appeared in front of the seal. At first nothing happened but the fog was slowly moving into the tiny tornado before gaining speed. The fog started to thin as the moisture and chakra keeping it active was being absorbed into the glowing seal construct.

Naruto smirked as the fog cleared to reveal Kakashi trapped in a water prison with Zabuza's arm stuck to it, possibly keeping the jutsu active. The Genins were surrounding Tazuna with a dozen Zabuzas blocking any form of escape. He did a Ram seal before whispering. _**"Fuuin: Kai."**_ causing the seal construct to dissipate as its task was finished. He quickly assessed the situation, his mind already coming up with a dozen scenarios and counters. Deciding that the client comes first, Naruto ran towards the surrounded Team 7 as one of his hands whipped out to the side, five blue chakra strings materialized, dancing around as if alive.

The Zabuza clones saw the incoming threat and immediately responded. Six of them tried to intercept but Naruto jumped into the air while he made a slashing gesture. The dancing chakra strings stopped their seemingly unorthodox movement before flinging themselves towards the six Zabuza clones at impossible speeds, wrapping them tightly. Naruto landed as he grabbed the strings together in a fist before tapping it with a finger. The tied up Zabuza clones were sliced in half as the string constricted around them. All that was left was a large puddle of water on the ground.

Smirking, Naruto disappeared in a blur leaving a static sound in the air as he appeared behind the remaining Zabuza clones, all of them were cut in half and dispelled. Seeing that the client was protected, totally ignoring the looks of awe and disbelief on their faces, he walked towards the edge of the lake, putting himself in front of Zabuza for the final showdown.

Zabuza gulped when he saw who the reinforcement was, he recognized the person who easily dispatched his clones. Of all the people to come to Kakashi's aid, why does it have to be _him_ of all people? And is that a fox with nine tails on his shoulder?

"Shiro Shinigami." Zabuza whispered with a hint of fear in his voice before glaring at his captive. "You didn't tell me that _he_ was your backup!"

Kakashi was surprised as well. He was expecting another Genin team or a Jounin to back him up but he didn't except _him_ of all people to take up the slack.

"How am I supposed to know that Hokage-sama sent him?" Kakashi answered helplessly though he was inwardly happy for getting Naruto.

Naruto started at Zabuza in amusement.

"Momochi Zabuza, A-rank rogue shinobi of Kirigakure no Sato, fancy meeting you here." the blonde said cheerfully. "Would you mind terribly if you release Kakashi-san from your water prison?"

Zabuza scoffed.

"Make me, brat." he said with a grin visible through the bandages on his face.

"If you insist." Naruto said with a nod before turning to Kurama who was watching the man with a keen eye, like a predator eyeing a piece of meat." Do you want to do the honors, Kurama?"

Kurama didn't say anything but jumped off Naruto's shoulder before dashing forward at top speed, increasing his size for the battle. Zabuza wasn't prepared when something large collided with his body with such force that he knew that his muscles was going to have bruises in the morning. He was thrown back and let go of the water prison, releasing Kakashi in the process. He was able to right himself to land on the water. He was about to counter when he saw something in front of him that made him sweat. A human-size Kyuubi was staring at him with such malevolence that it made his stomach clench and his instinct screaming at him to run away. Since the latter was not an option, pride and all that, he pulled off Kubikiriboucho from his back and attacked the bijuu in desperation.

Naruto watched Kurama play around with Zabuza before noticing Kakashi appear beside him.

"Yo, Kakashi-san." he greeted the one-eyed Jounin.

"Glad to see you here, Naruto. Did Hokage-sama send you?" Kakashi asked the lone Tokubetsu Genin of Konoha.

"What do you think?" Naruto said dryly before fishing out a scroll from his coat and handing it to him.

Kakashi read the mission parameters indicated on the scroll before realizing something. He gazed out into the lake to see Kyuubi practically making a toy out of the rogue shinobi.

"Uh Naruto, why is Kyuubi outside the seal?" Kakashi asked calmly though he was inwardly screaming at the boy for releasing the fox though he should have realized that the bijuu wasn't attacking indiscriminately.

"He's my summon, Kakashi-san. Ask Hokage-jiji since he already knows. Oh look, he's almost done with Zabuza." said Naruto, saying the last part a bit too cheerfully.

And he was right too. Kyuubi just unleashed a miniature _Imari_ at Zabuza who erected a water wall to stop it. However, the swordsman underestimated the power of the small ball since it easily exploded on his make-shift defense, obliterating it easily while the shock and heat wave damaged the man. A singed and wounded Zabuza flew out of the smoke to hit a three on the shore of the lake with a loud crack, sliding down with a thud, unconscious. Kurama calmly walked out of the smoke as he shrinked back to his chibi form before jumping on top of Naruto's head, a disgruntled look on his face.

"Not happy with the battle, I take it?" Naruto asked the fox while eyeing the smoking form of an unconscious Zabuza. He walked towards the man while channeling his chakra to his hands causing a tanto-sized blade to materialize.

"**Demon my ass. The snake woman can give me a better challenge than he did."** Kurama declared, glaring at Zabuza as if blaming the unconscious man for being weak.

"I don't think Anko would survive an _Imari_, Kurama, even if it is a watered down version of it since you only used enough chakra for an A-rank jutsu." Naruto told the bijuu.

"**Bah. I'll rather spar with you when we get back to Konoha."**

"Sure. I need an exercise anyway with all those boring missions, though after I'm done with my experiments."

"**You and your experiments."**

Naruto ignored the jab and was about to behead the Kiri rogue shinobi when a masked teen appeared beside Zabuza's downed form before whisking him away in a swirl of ice.

"Now that's something you don't see every day." said Naruto as he looked owlishly at the empty patch of grass where Zabuza was lying before someone took him away. He reached with his senses to feel a chakra residue that reminded him of ice. "It would seem that the Demon Brothers were not the only lackeys Zabuza had in his employ."

"**Hyoton. It's a bloodline from the Yuki Clan in Kiri."**

"A survivor then since the Yondaime Mizukage wiped out almost all of the bloodline clans in Water Country." said Naruto as he dispelled the chakra blade before walking back to Kakashi who was already with his team. He was unaware of their conversation.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Who is he, Kakashi-sensei?" asked Sakura in disbelief.

"His name is Uzumaki Naruto. He is two years your senior and was the Rookie of the Year in his class." answered Kakashi. He was inwardly relieved that his students weren't injured thanks to Naruto's timely intervention. Shaken, yes. Injured, no.

"Rookie of the Year?" asked Sasuke, finally taking his eyes off the blonde who was making his way to a downed Zabuza. He was itching to fight the rogue shinobi to test his skills but he was beaten to the punch. He was a bit miffed at the missed opportunity.

"Yes. According to the Hokage, Naruto beat two of the highest rankers ever produced by the Academy."

"Who?" Sai asked in his usual monotone.

"Uchiha Itachi and the Yondaime Hokage." Kakashi answered, his eye-smile in full blast.

"Impossible." Sakura exclaimed, disbelief now very obvious in her voice.

"Hn."

"I guess he isn't dickless like you, Uchiha."

"Shut up, Sai!" screamed the pink-haired Genin.

"Make me, boobless."

Kakashi sighed as his team bickered.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

It didn't take long for the group to arrive in the safety of Tazuna's house. They were greeted by Tsunami, Tazuna's daughter, and ushered to the dining room for a small snack. Kakashi introduced Team 7 before turning to Naruto who was happily sipping his tea with Kyuubi napping on top of his head.

"Why don't you introduce yourself, Naruto."

Naruto nodded in agreement as he placed his cup back on the table.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto, 15 years old, and a Tokubetsu Genin of Konoha. Nice to meet you all."

"Are you really a Genin?" asked Sakura, giving Naruto a keen eye. "What is a Tokubetsu Genin anyway?"

"I am a Genin since I graduated the Academy two years ago. A Tokubetsu Genin is a rank given to a shinobi of Genin rank with special abilities. That is all I can say, sorry."

"Bullshit." Kakashi said out while feigning a cough, earning him a glare from the blonde.

"Why aren't you with a team, Uzumaki-san?" asked Sai in polite monotone.

"Call me Naruto or Naruto-san if you want to be formal." he told the pale Genin who had a fake smile plastered on his face. "I never had a team though I worked with many shinobi teams in the past two years. I graduated with 15 others in the Academy so there's an odd one out. Instead of being assigned a team, Hokage-sama decided that I should be put in an apprenticeship."

"Apprenticeship? That is very rare. What did you choose?" asked Sakura, recognizing the term since she read all about it in book during her Academy days.

"I chose Stealth and Assassination, Haruno-san."

"Please call me Sakura."

"Sakura-san it is then." Naruto said with a nod of respect to the girl. He heard from the grapevine that Kakashi passed a team consisting of an emo Uchiha, a fangirl Haruno, and a creepy looking Genin (Sai). It would seem that the story was blown all out of proportions since Sakura wasn't behaving in her usual fan-girly self. The two were spot on though and made a mental note to avoid Sai, not liking the speculative look on the teen's face.

"Why did you pick Stealth and Assassination?" asked Sasuke causing the rest of Team 7 to look at him in disbelief. "What?"

"You said something other than your usual 'hn'" said Kakashi in amazement.

"I thought you were an Aburame, dickless." said Sai earning a punch from Sakura.

"Stop calling Sasuke-kun dickless!" Sakura screamed.

"Have you seen his dick?" Sai asked bluntly causing Tsunami and Tazuna to cough while Sakura blushed like a tomato. Sasuke had an indignant look on his face while Naruto chuckled in amusement.

"N-No." Sakura managed to stutter out.

"Then until proven otherwise, he is dickless." Sai said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Alright. Let's stop discussing Sasuke-san's reproductive organ. It's creepy." Naruto said with a shudder. He made a mental note to really avoid Sai in the future. "To answer your question, Sasuke-san, I chose Stealth and Assassination since that is my weak point."

"What is your skill set?" asked Sakura, blushing when Naruto looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "I mean, since we are going to be working together, I think it is only right that we know what you're capable of."

"Hm…tell you what. I'll tell you my skill set if you tell me yours first. Deal?" Naruto bargained. He wasn't really worried about telling them a water-down version of his abilities. Besides, the last time he checked, he was already in the Bingo Book.

Sasuke decided to answer first since this was an opportunity to learn something about their mysterious reinforcement.

"My skill set includes taijutsu and ninjutsu, the latter in Katon jutsus since it is my main affinity." said the last Uchiha, annoyed by the looks he was getting. "Alright. Let me make this clear right now. The reason why I always say 'hn' or any monosyllabic response is to get rid of fan girls. If I say anything remotely acknowledging their existence then I would not have survived in the Academy with them ganging up on me all the time."

Naruto nodded in understanding.

"Fangirls, the bane of any Rookie of the Year." the blonde said sagely getting a surprised look from Sasuke.

"You suffered from them too?" the Uchiha said with some sympathy.

Naruto shuddered.

"I was the Rookie of the Year in my class so I got quite a lot of them. It wasn't a pleasant experience." Naruto said this in a daze, as if remembering some horrific event that happened to him in the past. He shook his head to get rid of the thoughts of fangirls cornering him in a dead end alley. "Anyway, what is your skill set, Sakura-san?"

Sakura blushed but answered anyway.

"I can do the three Academy jutsus, Academy taijutsu, and my forte is chakra control according to Iruka-sensei." Sakura answered proudly, not noticing the look of horror on the blonde's face.

"Wait a minute. Those are basics. How long have you been a Genin?" he asked immediately, dreading the answer.

"Three months." Sakura asked with some confusion.

Naruto glared at Kakashi who was scratching the back of his head as if embarrassed about something.

"What have you been teaching them, Kakashi-san!?" he asked the Cyclops with some heat in his voice.

"Teamwork." Kakashi answered cheerfully before regretting it. He felt himself bound by one of Naruto's chakra threads. He knew how dangerous those things were so he didn't move an inch. He inwardly sighed in relief when he saw the thread was blue instead of green. Green threads means those were made from Fuuton chakra, commonly used by Naruto to slice his opponents to chunks of meat.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't cut you in half right now, Kakashi." Naruto said in anger.

"Uh, I outrank you?" Kakashi said lamely, inwardly wincing at the stupid answer. He sighed in relief when Sakura saved him.

"Wait. Why are you angry at Kakashi-sensei, Naruto-san?" Sakura asked immediately, afraid what Naruto would do to her sensei.

Naruto took a deep breath to calm his nerves. He glared at Kakashi one more time as he released the chakra thread before addressing Sakura.

"Sakura-san, the skill set you mentioned is what is expected of an Academy student upon reaching Genin. Considering that you have been under Kakashi for three months now, you should be trained with additional skills to help you in your shinobi career. In most cases, a Jounin should be teaching their Genins a chakra control exercise called Tree Climbing while teaching you advance taijutsu techniques and some ninjutsus on the side. Sasuke-san's skill set is expected of a stereotypical Genin for taijutsu and ninjutsu. I'm sure that Sai has his own unique skill set considering he is carrying a tanto around, correct?" he got a nod from Sai. "You on the other hand is what Jounins call a blank slate. You already know the basics but you were not taught anything else. That would a problem in the field."

Sakura looked at Naruto in disbelief before glaring at her sensei. Naruto saw it, however, decided to interrupt.

"No matter. Considering what I just found out. We will start training tomorrow. I will teach you some things to prepare yourself properly when Zabuza returns."

"Zabuza is alive?" Tazuna exclaimed in surprise and fear.

"Someone saved him before I could finish him off. No worries though."

"You're overstepping your bounds, Naruto." Kakashi said with authority.

"I think you need to read the scroll from Hokage-sama a bit carefully, Kakashi-san." Naruto said smugly.

Kakashi reached into his pouch and pulled out the scroll. He opened it again and read it slowly. His eyes widened upon reaching the postscript at the last part of the message. _"If Kakashi shows negligence, you have full authority as if you are speaking in my stead for this mission – Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen."_

Naruto noticed the defeated look on the Jounins face, smirking at the man for underestimating him.

"Um, Naruto-san, what will you be teaching us?" Sakura asked with some hesitation.

"Hm…I'm not really sure so let me ask you a question according to your skill set." He got a nod from the three Genins. "What was the last chakra control exercise you trained with?"

"Leaf Sticking exercise." The three answered in unison causing Naruto to slump his shoulders in defeat while inwardly cursing Kakashi and his lazy attitude.

"I guess that answers that question. I will be teaching you Tree Climbing tomorrow. What is your taijutsu style?"

"Uchiha Interceptor." Sasuke answered with pride.

"Beginner level of Konoha Shadow Dance." Sai drawled.

"Academy Taijutsu." Sakura answered in sadness.

Naruto nodded, pleased with their answer. Other than Sakura, the rest has their own special combat style to work on.

"Sasuke-san, Sai-san, we will have a spar tomorrow to determine the extent of your taijutsu. Sakura, I will be giving you pointers to come up with your own taijutsu style." said Naruto, nodding to a relieved Sakura. "What jutsus do you know?"

"_Katon: Goukakyu no Jutsu, Katon: Housenka no Jutus, Katon: Ryuka no Jutus_, plus the three Academy jutsus." Sasuke answered, getting a happy nod from Naruto. Despite being a Genin, Sasuke knew that Naruto was way stronger than him so he respected the blonde.

"I specialize in Ink-based jutsus. The extent of the techniques I mastered so far includes an Ink clones and a jutsu to materialize my drawings." answered Sai, earning a curious look from Naruto. "I don't know if it is a bloodline or not." He added getting a nod from the Tokubetsu Genin.

"Just the three Academy jutsus." Sakura answered dejectedly.

"No worries, Sakura-san. I'll be training you for a week as Zabuza heals up." Naruto assured the girl.

"Why a week?" Kakashi asked, miffed at how Naruto easily stole his students though he didn't mind since this would give him plenty of time to enjoy his new Icha Icha.

"Before Zabuza was rescued, he was suffering from broken bones, bruises, and third degree burns. It would take two weeks to heal with chakra in his body. If he has a medic-nin then I'll give him a week, give or take two days."

"Hm, understood." Kakashi nodded, agreeing with the Tokubetsu Genin's assessment. "If you're going to train my Genins then I'll be guarding Tazuna."

"Perfect." Naruto said with a grin as he rubbed his hands together. "We are going to have so much fun!"

Team 7 didn't know why but they felt a shiver run down their spines upon hearing Naruto's declaration of their training tomorrow.

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**End of Chapter 2.**

**Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave a review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Wow, I just went to get a short nap of 2 hours and I already saw a lot of people liking this fic (Story favorite). I feel the love. So...as a treat, here is chapter 3! Enjoy! (I'm currently working on chapter 7 so I hope you guys are patient).**

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**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. **

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**Chapter 3**

Naruto stood in front of the three sleepy Genins. He woke them up with a small Suiton jutsu and ushered them outside to get started with their training. He stayed up all night coming up with a training program for this group since he didn't want them to end up dead in a ditch somewhere because of Kakashi's laziness. Sure, the man was a powerful Jounin, a prodigy in the shinobi arts, but a lousy teacher.

"Alright, Team 7, we are going to get started with your training today. However, before we begin, I will answer Sakura-san's question yesterday about my skill set." declared Naruto with a smile causing the entire team to wake up fully, attention at maximum that made Naruto chuckle. "The reason why I was given the rank of Tokubetsu Genin is because of my capability with chakra." He raised a finger and channeling a bit of his chakra to create a single thread. He added a bit of Fuuton chakra to the mix causing it to turn green. He flicked lazily towards a small tree, easily cutting it in half. He raised his other hand before materializing a katana made of pure chakra. He saw the looks of awe on the Genin's faces at his demonstration.

"How in the world did you do that?" Sasuke asked in surprise.

"I have unparallel control over my chakra. I started training when I was six years old and it was two years ago that I reached the pinnacle of Shape Manipulation so I can do anything I want with it given time and experimentation." Naruto answered. "My most common skills include chakra weapons and my special chakra threads, as well as utilizing chakra with my taijutsu style. You noticed that it changed color from blue to green, right?" he got a nod from Sasuke. "This is because I also mastered my Fuuton affinity, injecting it into my thread gave it the ability to cut anything in its path instead of capture."

"Wow." Sakura blurted out causing Naruto to grin.

"Right, now that's done. Let's talk about your training program. I'm going to subject you to watered-down version of my training program since I don't want you guys to end up in a body bag after this mission." He said wryly. This admission garnered a confused look from Sakura and Sai but Sasuke was red with anger.

"We're not weak!" Sasuke growled out, insulting at being called weak.

"I didn't say you're weak, Sasuke-san. I merely said that you can't handle my training."

"And why is that?"

"The Uzumaki Clan is well known for our potent chakra and life force. As a side-effect, we have an advance healing factor that made it easy for us to survive in harsh conditions. If I subject you to the real training program then you can easily say that you won't like the results. Torn muscles would be the least of your worries." said Naruto. To drive his point home, he created a kunai and slashed his wrist. He showed the bleeding wound to the Genins who became astounded when the cut started healing at a rapid pace. "See? If you can heal wounds like that in seconds then I would be more than happy to subject you to hell on earth." He said this with a malicious gleam in his eyes that made Sasuke gulp. "Now that we cleared that up, I want you to show me the back of your right hand."

The confused Genins did as requested while Naruto created three identical seals using his finger. He studied the floating seals a bit and found nothing wrong with them. He guided the seals to the Genin's wrist. _**"Uzumaki Fuuinjutsu: Omomi!"**_ The three Genins winced as the seals painfully embedded themselves onto their skin. Seeing that the seals were properly attached to their skins, he hooked a chakra thread onto the seals so he could activate them using his chakra. _**"Fuuin!"**_

The three Genins stumbled as they felt a something heavy settle on their bodies.

"What did you do to us, Naruto-san?" asked Sai with a hint of nervousness.

"I just gave you three my version of training weights. Instead of weights strapped to your arms and legs, the seals placed a designated amount of weight on every part of your body. You are currently at level one, meaning, you have 20 pounds added to your overall body weight. This will help improve your core strength while increasing your chakra reserves since the seal is kept active by constantly draining a bit of your chakra."

"Are these permanent?" Sasuke asked while studying the intricate seal on his wrist, not bothered by the new tattoo since it was clear that Naruto was doing everything he can to help them get stronger, more than Kakashi anyway.

"Yes and no. The seal itself is permanent unless you want me to remove it. No because you can deactivate its effects so you can move without restriction, which is necessary if you are engaged in a life and death situation. At the end of this week, I will teach you how to deactivate and reactivate the seal, as well as how to add weights to it."

"This is a very good training tool, Naruto-san." said Sai with a hint of admiration as he tried to move his hands around, feeling the weights slowing him down.

"Glad you think so, Sai. Now, you will spend an hour going through your individual taijutsu styles. This will help you adjust to the added weight on your body, as well as getting started with your physical training. Begin!"

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Naruto observed the three Genins as they go through the katas of their respective fighting styles.

Sasuke was quite fluid with his movements but Naruto could see that there were plenty of holes in the style itself. He immediately realized that the taijutsu style required the Sharingan to spot the holes in an opponent's stance and attack it mercilessly while their guard was down.

Sai's held more mastery to his style but Naruto could see that the boy lacked the strength necessary to make it an effective ace in battle. His training weights would solve that problem in time if he kept at it.

Sakura mastered the Academy style but she needed to advance her prowess or she was going to get herself killed. He called all three of them, noticing that they immediately stopped and waited attentively for his next training session. He inwardly grinned.

"Alright, you three are doing great and I can see that you are already adapting to the training weights. Starting tomorrow, your will wake up same time as today and do calisthenics. I think you already know what that entails, correct?" he got a nod from the three. "Good. One hour of calisthenics and one hour going through your individual taijutsu style. Aim for fluidity of movements instead of speed. Speed will come in time with practice. Take a 10 minute break then proceed with Tree Climbing which I will demonstrate now."

He walked over to a tree and climbed with only his feet, walking up easily until he was hanging upside down on one of the thicker branches, enjoying the look of shock on their faces.

"This is an advance form of chakra exercise called Tree Climbing. As you can see, I used my chakra to stick to the tree and walked up. You need to find the right amount of chakra to stick to any solid surface. Use less then you fall off. Use more then you're going to blast yourself off the tree. This exercise offers three benefits. One, you will learn to better control your chakra, making it easy for you to regulate your jutsus in the future. Two, this will help increase your chakra reserves. And three, since you are going to walk and run up and down the tree, you are using gravity as an additional weight training that will surely deplete your stamina. The more you progress in this training, the stronger you will become – chakra and strength wise." He turned to Sakura. "You should benefit from this exercise. I predict that you're going to be the first to master this exercise since you have below average chakra reserves. Even if you got this exercise, I suggest that you continue running up and down the tree as a form of physical training. Any questions?"

The trio shook their heads in negative, looking at the trees surrounding the clearing with determined eyes.

"Since you don't have any questions, pick a tree and get started. You will do this exercise until lunch."

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"What did you do to them?" asked Kakashi when he saw his Genins enter the kitchen with tired looks on their faces. They were like zombies as they sat themselves with pained groan.

"I placed my own weight seals on them for training as they go through the Tree Climbing exercise." Naruto informed the Jounin as he sat himself beside the man.

"Weight seals? Don't you think they're too young for that?"

"I only gave them ten pounds of weight, Kakashi-san."

"Ah. No worries then. What will teach them after that?" he asked curiously.

"They will go through the motions everyday even if they mastered the exercise since they will need to develop their core strength. To be honest with you, their foundation sucks and needs to be corrected as soon as possible." Naruto explained. "After lunch, I will give Sakura a scroll containing the basics of medical jutsus since she has the best chakra control of all three. She will be the medic and support of the group. I will ask the boys to show me their jutsus. If they already mastered it then good, if not then I will teach them how to master their individual affinities."

"Aren't you going too fast?" Kakashi pointed out earning him a glare from the teen.

"I have no choice since you're too lazy to train them properly for the last three months." Naruto told the man, daring him to disagree.

"Touche."

"At the end of this mission, I will give them a training program to follow. Please watch over them. You can even add to the training program if you want to."

"Thanks, Naruto."

"Don't mention it, Cyclops."

"Where is Kyuubi anyway?" asked Kakashi, finally noticing that the chibified bijuu wasn't around.

"He should be in the forest hunting for his lunch." Naruto answered with a shrug, not caring where Kurama was since the bijuu could take care of himself.

"Which reminds me Naruto-san, where did you find a nine-tailed fox?" asked Sakura.

Naruto smiled sadly at the pink-haired girl.

"Tell me Sakura, since you read the history of Konoha, in what part did a nine-tailed fox appear?"

"Kyuubi that attacked Konoha fifteen years ago." Sakura answered immediately.

"How old am I?"

"Fifteen…" Sakura trailed off before a look of horror appeared on her face. Sasuke and Sai who was listening to the conversation paled.

"That is an S-rank secret, Naruto." said Kakashi, no trace of the laid-back Jounin in his voice.

"Yes, an S-rank secret that only the Hokage and I can divulge without getting the penalty. Besides, it's bound to come out anyway." Naruto said with a shrug. He turned to the Genins. "The Yondaime wasn't able to destroy Kyuubi, no human can. Instead, he sealed the Kyuubi inside an infant. I guess you already know who the infant was, correct?"

"The Yondaime sealed the Kyuubi inside you." said Sasuke, earning a nod from the bijuu container who was calmly sipping the tea Tsunami brought him. "Why is the Kyuubi out? He isn't what the history books make it out to be."

"Trust me, the history books are all wrong about the Kyuubi and I have no intentions of sharing that secret since that is the Kyuubi's to tell and not mine." Naruto said dryly. He knew the real reason why Kurama attacked Konoha and he had no intentions of sharing that secret unless his partner gave him permission to do so. So far, there were only three privy to that information – him, Kurama, and the Sandaime. "To answer your question, I dabbled a bit in fuuinjutsu and came up with a loophole in the seal the Yondaime used to seal Kyuubi inside me. I struck a friendship with the fox and we acted as partners ever since. I can summon him out of the seal, like a summon animal, but I have full control over his chakra. Currently, Kyuubi has the chakra of a mid-level Jounin. I can give him more if the occasion demands it but I find that unlikely."

The Genins were subdued, their minds running a mile a minute at what Naruto revealed to them. But despite the thoughts that racked their brains, all three of them realized that Naruto was not the Kyuubi, he was merely the container that held the monster that attacked Konoha all those years ago.

"Thank you, Naruto-san." said Sasuke and Sakura at the same time before looking at each other with a raised eyebrow.

"What for?" Naruto asked in confusion.

"I think I can say this for Sasuke and I, thank you for doing your best in protecting us from Kyuubi as its container."

Naruto studied the two and saw nothing but honesty in their declaration. He saw Sai nod at him, agreeing to their statement. He gave them a smile.

"You're welcome and thank you."

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Naruto stood in front of Sasuke and Sai after the two demonstrated all the ninjutsu they know. Sure, they were powerful but they were barely touching the potential these techniques could do. He already assigned clone to Sakura to oversee her training, leaving him to lecture the boys.

"Alright, your jutsus are quite powerful for your age but you barely scratched what you can do with it?"

This revelation shocked the two boys.

"What do you mean? We can do the techniques already." said Sasuke with narrowed eyes.

"Yes, you can do the techniques but there is room for improvement. Watch, Sasuke-san." said Naruto as he turned, facing a rather large tree a hundred meters away. He took a deep breath before breathing out six head-size fireballs that burned the trunk to a crisp.

"That's my technique and you didn't even use hand seals!" Sasuke exclaimed in shock and awe. Sai was staring at him and the burnt tree with wide eyes.

"Yes, it is your technique and I just learned that today when you demonstrated it." Naruto said with grin.

"You copied it?"Sasuke asked in shock.

Naruto shook his head before explaining.

"No, I didn't copy it. I don't have the _Sharingan_ so there is no way for me to copy techniques on the fly." Naruto told the disgruntled Uchiha. "The reason why I was able to perform the technique is due to my proficiency in molding chakra."

"What do you mean, Naruto-san?"asked Sai.

"Hand seals are necessary to mold chakra. Each of the hand seal molds our chakra a certain way, thus resulting in jutsus. For example, the _Katon: Housenka no Jutsu _requires Rat, Tiger, Dog, Ox, Rabbit, and Tiger to mold it properly. Rat gives it shape, Tiger changes neutral chakra to fire, Dog gives it speed, Ox gives it solidity, Rabbit gives for stability, and Tiger to fire it off. I studied and experimented how each hand seal interacts with chakra. With that in mind, I have the basic ability of the _Sharingan_ without the bloodline. Through the hand seals, I can determine how the technique is done and since I can control my chakra down to the last drop, I can do the technique without handseals."

"Amazing." Sasuke breathed out. "Can you teach me?"

"No I can't." Naruto raised his hand to stop whatever Sasuke was about to say. "I can't teach you because only you can manipulate your chakra. I read the book in the Konoha Shinobi Library detailing how hand seals affect jutsus. I meditated and practiced with each of the hand seals until I could mold my chakra without them. If you want to acquire this skill, all you need to do is study, meditate, and experiment, same way I did."

Sasuke nodded in understanding. If he wanted to be strong enough to defeat Itachi then he needed to work hard. Naruto definitely did that and he was going to do the same.

"Now watch." advised Naruto as he targeted another tree with the same technique. This time, the six fireballs that came out of his mouth was bigger and faster, burning the tree to ash. "As you can see, with mastery of this jutsu, you should be able to change its speed, size, and power. Sasuke, what you did earlier was the _acquisition_ of the technique, not the mastery of it. If you want to achieve the same level then you train. Do the jutsu while keeping a close eye on your chakra, analyze how the hand seals form the technique; analyze how much chakra is needed for the technique to work, and experiment with the amount. Once you can manipulate the technique, then I can safely say that you mastered it."

"Thank you, Naruto-san."

"Don't mention it." said Naruto while smiling at the boy. "Now, for the next hour, you two will spar using everything in your arsenal. This should give you a form of battle experience and give you an idea _when_ to use your jutsus. This is another sign of mastery. Shinobi use the quickest way to get results, same thing goes in a battle. Use your jutsus and chakra wisely and in a timely manner." Naruto advised as moved away from the boys who were giving each other speculative looks. He inwardly grinned since this would prove to be an amazing fight.

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Naruto dodged the animated lion drawing when it lunged at him with its claws while flicking his finger to wrap a chakra thread around Sasuke's foot before yanking it back, causing said boy to fall to the ground, cancelling the jutsu he was about to use against him. He flared his chakra when he felt one of Sakura's genjutsu trying to invade his mind, effectively dissipating the technique before it could take hold. Deciding that the spar has gone long enough, he ended it by creating two other chakra threads, one wrapping around Sakura, incapacitating her while the other sliced a black tiger in half before wrapping around Sai's neck, mildly choking him and stopping any form of counter.

"Winner! Naruto." bellowed Kakashi, clapping his hands, his eye smile present on his face. "You three definitely improved in only five days. You lasted for half an hour against Naruto."

"We still lost, sensei." whined Sakura. This had been their eighth team spar – Team 7 versus Naruto. They lost and the Genins knew that Naruto was holding back a lot since he limited himself to using his threads and taijutsu.

"I didn't except you three to win against him. The gap in terms of technique and experience is just too great." explained Kakashi. Sakura huffed before doing a few hand seals. The tell-tale green chakra of a medical jutsu surrounded her hand before laying it on Sasuke's shoulder. The teen winced when he felt dislocated bone snap into place as Sakura's healing did its job. Kakashi smiled at how the sole female of his Genin team was using medical technique with only five days of training under Naruto's watchful eye. "You're getting good with that jutsu, Sakura."

"He's a slave driver." said Sakura, wincing when she remembered the training their temporary sensei put them through. Naruto maybe a Genin in rank, but his skills were definitely on par to that of an experienced Jounin. "Besides, healing Sai and Sasuke-kun everyday helps a lot."

"That it does, Sakura." Naruto said with a grin. "I may have trained you three but it is because of your hard work that you mastered it. How's your _Chakra no Mesu_ coming along?"

"Not that stable, Naruto-sensei, but I'm getting there." answered Sakura, done healing Sasuke but scanning the teen to see if there was more that needs healing. It was ingrained into her by Naruto to make sure that her patients were fully healed, giving a complete scan if there were other problems that needs fixing. It was a good advice that she planned on following if she wanted to continue her education in healing. She was happy that she grew strong and could safely say that she was now part of Team 7.

Naruto nodded. It was two days ago that the trio started calling him sensei. He told them against doing so but they were stubborn. It did make him happy that they survived his training. Their teamwork was now above average, making their moves almost instinctive when working together.

Individually, it was Sakura who improved the most. Her chakra levels were now above that of a Genin, nearing high-Genin thanks to Naruto's training regime. She now filled the spot of a support member of Team 7 thanks to her prowess in genjutsu and medical jutsu. She might not have plenty in her arsenal but she was good enough in what she has, not perfect but getting there.

Sasuke took to his advice in experimenting with his Katon jutsus. He couldn't throw them out without hand seals but the chakra control exercise he trained with allowed him to manipulate his techniques, making them stronger and potent compared to before.

Sai's improvement involved the speed of activating his ink-based techniques, as well as a huge improvement in his taijutsu thanks to their daily spar.

All-in-all, Team 7 was ready to face Zabuza again if he does return for a rematch. Naruto was sure that Kakashi would be taking care of the rogue shinobi while Team 7 would face the fake Hunter-nin.

"So, Naruto, any plans for your side mission?" asked Kakashi as the five made their way back to Tazuna's house. He wasn't on guard duty since the client took a day off to relax and Naruto was kind enough to station a few clones outside the client's house just in case Gato or Zabuza decided to attack.

"Not sure yet but I have time. I can either go for Gato now or I can do so after we defeat Zabuza. Either way is good and I'm not in a hurry to get it done." He answered with a shrug. "Besides, considering this is a tyrant businessman we are dealing with, I am quite sure that he would be betraying Zabuza after he gets rid of Tazuna."

"Why do you say that?" the Jounin asked curiously.

Naruto shrugged while watching Team 7 talk to each other, especially Sasuke who was no longer an emo, talking to his teammates as equals.

"It's his M.O. He is a businessman through and through, and a successful one at that. Considering that he hired a missing-nin, he is not obligated to pay Zabuza when the job is done. I'll bet my bank account that he will end up double-crossing our zanbatou-wielding friend sooner or later after he is done with his contract." Naruto said casually before taking a long pull from the lit cigarette before breathing out the smoke.

Kakashi chuckled, remembering the ruckus Naruto caused during one of the Poker sessions at ANBU HQ.

"Considering your luck, I'm not going to take that bet. Ibiki and Anko warned me that you are quite good in profiling criminals and you have the devil's luck."

"They are still angry that they always lose to me at poker?" asked the blonde as his lips quirked into a smile. "It's not my fault that they suck at the game."

"Getting seven Royal Flushes in a row?" Kakashi pointed out.

"It's a game of chance, Kakashi-san. The point is that they suck and I don't." Naruto said smugly. He made a killing that night and Ibiki now owed him a favor. He didn't cash the favor yet since he might need it in the future. Anko wasn't able to pay but the quick look at her 'assets' was payment enough. He giggled, remembering Anko's bountiful blessing.

Kakashi merely shook his head and decided to drop the topic. His mind was focused on the potential battle tomorrow. His gut instinct was screaming and he knew what that meant.

Tomorrow would be the day that he and his team would be facing the Demon of the Mist and only one group would be coming out alive.

The one-eyed Jounin hoped that it was his group.

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**End of Chapter 3. **

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	4. Chapter 4

**Here's Chapter 4 for you to enjoy. ^_^**

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**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I used abilities from other animes, then I don't own them too. Give credit to where credit is due.**

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**Chapter 4**

Naruto woke up when he heard a scream coming from below. He immediately put on his white coat and followed the noise until he found the source. Two thugs were making their way towards Tsunami while Inari stood between them, eyes full of fear but there was determination there. It would seem that his hunch was right, Gato was definitely a sleazebag. It was obvious that the tyrant was going to use Tazuna's daughter and grandson as a bargaining chip to get his way. Naruto would have none of that. He used his speed to appear in front of the two thugs, a palm over their hearts.

"_**Chakra Burst."**_ Naruto whispered as a blast of tightly controlled chakra flew out of his palms that liquefied their hearts. They dropped dead as blood leaked out of their eyes, nose, and mouth due to the force of his attack. He lit a cigarette and took a long pull before breathing out the smoke. He turned to Inari who was looking at him in awe and patted the boy on the head. "Good job there, boya. You did good protecting your mother. Despite your attitude, I knew there was a hero in there somewhere in that body of yours. Anyway, considering that Gato is aiming for you, I suggest that you stay here and avoid leaving the house. I'll leave some of my clones to keep guard while I check out the bridge."

Naruto created six clones who immediately took up defensive positions around the house before making his way to the bridge, hoping he wasn't too late.

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Naruto arrived at the bridge to see the mist dissipating. He saw Kakashi's signature technique impaling Zabuza's heart while Team 7 took out the fake Hunter-nin but left him alive since he was still breathing. He heard a clap somewhere behind the dissipating mist until it cleared enough to see Gato with an army of thugs and mercenaries behind him.

"Ha! Some demon! He couldn't even take care of a bunch of weak shinobi from the Leaf." the midget Gato shouted in malicious glee. "Too bad you killed him. I really wanted to put the man in his place. Oh well, at least I'll take you guys out before I kill Tazuna and destroy his bridge."

"Not on my watch you don't." Naruto murmured as he stood beside a tired Kakashi. "You alright there, Kakashi-san?"

Kakashi replaced his hitai-ate over his _Sharingan_ eye before answering.

"My chakra is depleted."

Naruto nodded before turning to the Genins. Sasuke was full of needles but Sakura was doing a good job pulling them out and healing the boy. Sai was heavily panting with a few needles stuck in different places. They were definitely out so he would have to take care of Gato and his thugs.

"I'll take care of this, Kakashi-san." said Naruto as he made his way to army in front of him.

"Be careful." Kakashi urged.

"I'm always careful." answered Naruto before swinging both of his arms to the side as ten green chakra threads flew out of his fingers. "Let the dance of death begin." he murmured before blurring out of sight as the scream started.

Team 7 couldn't take their eyes off the carnage in front of them. They couldn't see Naruto but the white blur was enough to know that he was the one dispatching the mercenaries. Flickers of green seemed to wade through the bodies of attacking thugs before they were sliced to ribbons – blood, flesh, and bones were flying everywhere. Sakura already threw up her lunch while Sai and Sasuke were holding it together though they looked a bit pale as they witnessed the massacre in front of them. Kakashi looked the scene with a blank face since he already knew what Naruto was capable of. He read one of the reports a year back about a bandit group attacked a merchant caravan Naruto was protecting with a rookie Genin team. It was a bloodbath.

Naruto stood in front of Gato without speck of blood on his clothes. Despite the number of thugs he killed, he was quite clean.

"W-who a-are you?" exclaimed the fearful midget.

"The name is Uzumaki Naruto. But for cowards and tyrants like you, they call me Shinigami." Naruto told the man with a bloodthirsty grin that scared Gato even more.

"P-please, h-have mercy. I'll g-give you anything y-you want. J-just spare me." Gato stuttered out fearfully, unable to believe that single man could decimate his army. Three hundred heavily armed men were cut to ribbons without an ounce of mercy. Since he was behind his troops, he saw everything. The teen in white would appear and disappear as if he was an apparition, death followed his footsteps. The Shinigami given human form clad in a white coat.

"Hm….let me think….nah." said Naruto before placing a finger on the quivering man's forehead. "For your crimes against the people of Wave, your sentence is death. _**Die**_." he growled as a beam of pure chakra flew out the back of Gato's head before the man slumped down, dead to the world. Naruto stared at the man coldly before turning on his heels, making his way to the downed Team 7 to see if they were alright.

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Since Gato was dead, Naruto had no reason staying in Wave. It had been two days since he killed the tyrannical businessman and his army. He already ransacked the man's mansion of everything he could get his hands on. He gave a few millions to Tazuna for Wave Country and placed the rest in a large sealing scroll that he stored inside the storage tattoo on his hand. He found a few documents from Gato's vault that the Sandaime needed to know – slave trading was banned in Fire Country after all so they needed to stomp the infection before it could spread…or another tyrant planning to take up the slack now that Gato was dead. Since Team 7's mission involved staying until the bridge was finished, he left early but not before giving each Genins a scroll containing some jutsus for each of them to learn and a training manual to follow. He did promise them after all and Uzumaki Naruto never breaks a promise if he could help it.

It took five hours to get to Konoha with his speed and immediately reported to the Hokage for a debriefing. He surrendered the documents to the aged leader, who in turn, gave it to an ANBU to be handed to Ibiki to end the slave trade in the country once and for all.

"I take it that you also took Gato's wealth as well?" the Sandaime asked though he already knew the answer. Naruto was meticulous in his work if nothing else.

Naruto nodded as he sat by the window, blowing smoke out into the wind.

"I gave half of it to Wave Country. The rest are still with me. I'll split it up into three – one third for me, one third for Team 7, and a third for the village. I hope that's alright with you, old man."

"That's fine. It's yours to do as you wish and it's kind of you to give some to Team 7." the aged leader said with a smile.

"Hey, they did all the hard work. They took down Zabuza and his partner, all I did was off Gato and his thugs." Naruto said with a shrug.

"Gato and 300 of his men." the Hokage pointed out the omission. He already knew everything that happened since the blonde reported everything in detail.

"Details." Naruto said dismissively. "So, is there anything else old man? I have some research I need to do."

"Actually there is. I want you to join this year's Chuunin Selection Exam."

"You want me to what?" Naruto exclaimed in disbelief. He couldn't remember how many times the old coot brought up the promotion and he was getting tired of it.

"You're not deaf." the Hokage chided. "I want to nominate you as a candidate for the exam. I can easily promote you to Chuunin since you're qualified to be one already but I know you wouldn't take it. Heck, with your very impressive mission accomplishment, I can even promote you to Jounin right off the bat if not for the uproar it would cause."

"Damn right I wouldn't. You know I'm happy as a Genin forever." Naruto said, leveling the smirking Hokage a glare as if daring him to challenge his declaration.

"Yes, I know. You told me that over a hundred times already. However, I want you to move up the ranks." Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed, showing a weakness that made Naruto frown. "I'm getting old, Naruto-kun, and I have a feeling that this will be my last year as Hokage so I want to make sure that you have the rank to back you up when I'm gone."

"I don't need protection." Naruto said indignantly before giving the aged leader a pointed look. "What do you mean this will be your last year as Hokage? Is there something I need to know about?"

The Sandaime nodded, his face turning serious.

"I received a report from Jiraiya via messenger toad that Orochimaru is planning to attack Konoha during the Chuunin Selection Exams. I know that he's set on destroying the village but I know that there is an ulterior motive behind this. Your joining the Chuunin Selection Exam serves two reasons. One, to grant you a promotion without causing problems. I think you know the Civilian Council is still out for your blood and Danzo is still adamant in training you as a weapon. If you're Chuunin then you have an added protection to their machinations."

"Fine fine. I'll join the exam if you really want me to." Naruto said with a sigh, finally giving in since he couldn't deny the fact that the Sandaime was right in his assumptions. Despite the fact that the Shinobi Council was on his side of the fence, the Elders, especially Danzo, and the Civilian Council could still make his life miserable with their machinations. "What's the second reason?"

"I want you to keep an eye out for Orochimaru. I'm sure that he will be infiltrating the exam so I want you to use your considerable…talents to find him. You don't need to engage him, just report everything you find out and I'll handle the rest."

"Sounds like an S-rank mission." Naruto said with a gleam in his eyes.

"It is an S-rank mission, unofficially of course." he added the last part to drive his point home.

"I'll take it then." Naruto agreed. "How can I join the exam if I don't have a team? I know there's a rule that a complete team is necessary to take the exam."

"Correct but an apprentice can take the exam if they are qualified enough and if approved by the apprentice's master. I haven't removed your status as an apprentice and Anko already gave her permission. She said it along the line of _'Hell yeah! Let him join and kick everyone's ass! I'll make a killing betting on him!'_." the Sandaime said in amusement with Naruto chuckling. "Since you already have permission, you can join the exam without problems."

"Fine. I'll attend the exam. This could be fun and I'm quite bored lately doing nothing but missions and researching on bettering my techniques. Considering that Genins from other villages would be attending, I'm sure I'll get a few research ideas from them. Anyway, when is the exam and how many villages signed up?"

"The exam is in two weeks. I received a confirmation that teams from Suna, Kumo, Kusa, and Taki joined up. A new village that goes by Otogakure also signed up but only a single Genin team joined." Sarutobi said with a frown.

"Otogakure? Sound? That's definitely new." Naruto mused. "Anything we know about this 'new' village?"

"The only thing we know is that the village is hidden somewhere around Rice Country. We don't know who the leader is and Jiraiya's spies weren't able to infiltrate, much less find the village in question. Judging from their name, we can safely say that they specialize in sound-based techniques or something similar."

"Definitely a potential for research then." Naruto said in glee.

"Is research all you think about?"

"That's what I'm good at, old man."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Naruto read the notes his clones made for him. Sure, he would get the memories of his clones when they dispel but a journal was quite useful since it was almost impossible to keep track of everything even with his control over his mindscape. The new entries in the journal detailed the clones experiment in perfecting the different Nature Transformation other than wind.

The reason for this was his disbelief that shinobi could only have one or two elemental affinity. Those with bloodline may acquire three depending on what their bloodline was. However, Naruto disabused that fact since it was quite possible to 'acquire' different affinities given time and training. He mastered wind since it was his affinity and already working his way to finishing the different exercises for fire. That was the reason why he was able to use Sasuke's jutsu without hand seal since he was already familiar with the way neutral chakra converts to fire.

The journal detailed his clones' achievement in earth, lightning, and water. Thanks to his access to the shinobi section of Konoha Library, he had all the elemental affinity exercises and delegated his clones to perfect them. If he was to gauge his progress, he was 100% wind, 80% fire, 20% water, 10% earth, and 10% lightning. Mastery would take a while for the last four elements but he didn't mind. He has plenty of time to master them thanks to his clones.

He closed his research journal before his eyes strayed to the piece of paper containing a note from the Hokage. It forbade him from bringing out Kurama during the exam for reasons that it would cause a panic of epic proportions if the bijuu was seen in public. Kurama raised quite a stink upon hearing that but quieted down when Naruto pointed out that he didn't need the headache the Civilian Council and the Elders would cause if they found out that he could bring out the most powerful bijuu in the Elemental Nations as a summon.

However, the note also mentioned that he could bring out Kurama if, and only if, the situation demands it. If Orochimaru pushed through with his planned invasion then Naruto would gleefully bring out Kurama with four-tails of his power to decimate any summons coming their way. Since Orochimaru held the Snake Summoning Contract, Naruto was sure that giant snakes would be making an appearance during the invasion.

Kurama drooled at the thought of burning the snakes down to ashes and a treat if the snake boss was one of them.

Naruto burned the letter with a small concentrated burst of chakra before making his way out of his make-shift lab underneath his apartment. He needed to meet with Team 7 to give them their share of Gato's loot. Besides, he wanted to gauge how they were doing with the training program he gave them, as well as test them on the jutsus he gifted the Genins. Naruto knew that Kakashi would be nominating them for the Chuunin Selections since he heard from Anko that Team 8, 9, and 10 were being nominated as well. Those jutsus would definitely help considering what they were up against.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"What happened to Haku?" asked Naruto as he watched Team 7 face off against two of his clones in a 'friendly' spar though it was far from being friendly since his clones were being merciless in giving the three a beating for the trio to gain battle experience other than improving their individual skills.

"I don't know how it happened but Haku and Sasuke bonded, they became friends while were watching Tazuna as he finished his bridge. I don't know what Sasuke did but it broke Haku out of his suicide funk. He went back to Kiri to join the Bloodline Rebels liberate the country. He told me that it was Zabuza's wish to topple the Yondaime Mizukaze so he's going to join the anti-government faction and lend a helping hand." Kakashi explained before wincing when he saw one of Naruto's clone axe-kicked Sai into unconsciousness. "Do you have to be so rough on them?"

Naruto shrugged. "They asked for it. Besides, I was trained by Anko this way and I find pain to be an effective medium in teaching someone a lesson they will never forget." he explained to the one-eyed Jounin with a slightly sadistic smirk on his face.

"Anko isn't really a good role model." Kakashi deadpanned.

"And you are?" returned Naruto with a raised eyebrow as if daring him to disagree.

"Touche!"

"Besides, with this training method, they would be prepared for the Chuunin Exam in two weeks. Add the training regimen they do every day, they would most likely bulldoze through the competition barring a select few." Naruto admitted, pride swelling in his chest as he watched the progress of Team 7 with his training regimen, a slightly watered down version of it but it worked.

"You do know for a fact that you're also taking the exam." Kakashi pointed out. He was so going to tell his team to avoid Naruto at all cost if they want to survive to the last phase of the exam. Temporary sensei or not, he knew that Naruto would be merciful to them. "If they meet you then they are as good as defeated since I know you won't be showing any mercy even if they are your temporary students and comrades."

"Call it a survival test if you will." Naruto said with a dismissive wave of his hand.

"You're evil, you know that right?"

"Your point?"

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Naruto casually entered the Academy and made his way to the third floor, ignoring the genjutsu, as well as the Genins being intimidated by a disguised Izumo and Kotetsu to discourage their participation in the first phase of the exam. However, he stopped and palmed his face when Sasuke pointed out the genjutsu.

He turned around and approached the idiot before bonking him on the head with a fist, earning a snicker from Sakura and Sai who watched the two in amusement.

"Why in the world did you open your trap, Sasuke?" Naruto almost growled at the Sharingan-wielding boy who was nursing a bump on his head.

"But they were using a genjutsu. I just had to point it out." Sasuke whined. His time at Wave under Naruto's influence definitely mellowed him out. He was no longer the monosyllabic moron he was during the Academy and was letting his emotions out.

"Did you ever _think_ that the genjutsu was placed there for a reason? A reason, oh I don't know, maybe, to eliminate the competition?" Naruto growled out with pure sarcasm in his voice.

Sasuke blinked.

"I didn't think of that." He said dumbly before he was bonked again. "Ow!"

"That's for not thinking." said Naruto before turning to a snickering Sakura. "Why didn't you stop him?"

"You know how hardheaded he is, Naruto-sensei." she deadpanned before snickering again.

Naruto sighed. "You can drop the –sensei now, Sakura. I'm done teaching you three so drop it." he told the pinkette who merely shrugged.

"Sure, Naruto-sensei." said Sakura causing Naruto to groan.

"Ugh. You're hopeless. All three of you are hopeless." Naruto sighed before gesturing for them to the stairs. He raised his hand just in time to catch a kick. "Not now, Lee." he said irritably to a Genin wearing green spandex and sporting a bowl-cut hairstyle.

"YOSH! YOU'RE AS YOUTHFUL AS EVER, NARUTO-KUN!" shouted Lee before he was forcefully thrown to a wall courtesy of an annoyed Naruto. The he collided so hard that his body left an indentation before comically sliding down to the floor.

"Damn it, Lee! Tone down your volume. Sheesh! Gai really made a mess turning you into his mini-me. One youthful idiot is enough for this village."

Lee jumped up as if nothing happened before giving Naruto his patented teeth-sparkling smile.

"YO…uh…yosh!" said Lee, toning down the volume when he saw Naruto raise a chakra-coated fist. He may be a glutton for punishment but he wasn't suicidal and annoying Naruto in a bad mood was definitely suicidal.

"Why did I ever agree to this exam?" Naruto cried out causing those who knew him to snicker.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"How does your teammate know Naruto-sensei?" Sakura asked Tenten as they watched Sasuke trying to defend himself from Lee's speedy attacks. Lee introduced himself to Sasuke and wanted to fight him. His ego stroked by being called a prodigy by Lee, Sasuke took up the challenge and was getting his butt whooped.

"Why do you call him sensei?" Tenten asked curiously, wincing when Lee kicked Sasuke on the chin, sending the Uchiha off the ground.

"He taught us during our mission to Wave Country and left us a training program to follow afterwards. He even taught me medical jutsus and genjutsu so I can support my teammates." Sakura said proudly.

"Same old Naruto." Tenten said with a smile. "He did the same thing to us last year when we became Team 9. He accompanied us to a B-rank mission to Tea Country. When he saw our training lacking in some areas, he taught us for a week and gave a few pointers for Lee. In fact, Lee was the one who benefited the most from his training."

"What did he teach, Lee?" asked Sakura curiously.

"Lee can't channel chakra to do ninjutsu despite having chakra in spades." Tenten explained causing Sakura giving her an incredulous stare. "Really, his body produces chakra but he can't bring it out. Naruto taught him a unique way to channel chakra to augment his physical strength and speed. He still can't do ninjutsu or genjutsu to save his life but he can use chakra for body augmentation since it is all internal. If you don't believe me, check out Lee as he fights your teammate. You should see his muscles bulging at different intervals."

Sakura curiously observed Lee and definitely noticed what she was pointing at.

"You're right. Is that because of Naruto-sensei's training?" With her limited understand of human anatomy taught to her by Naruto, muscles shouldn't bulge that way. It was unnatural and totally new to her.

"Naruto taught him that. According to Gai-sensei, Naruto is considered a Chakra Sage by the Jounins due to his unparalleled control over his chakra and his knowledge of its intricacies and use. Not even the Hokage or the Legendary Medic, Tsunade-sama, can match him in the way he uses and channels his chakra to produce amazing techniques. He even taught me how to effectively channel chakra to my weapons to make it more effective in combat." said Tenten before pulling out a kunai and channeling a bit of chakra to it, coating the weapon in blue energy. She threw it to a wall, but instead of piercing through it, the tip hit the wall causing a small crater resulting Sakura's jaw falling to the floor in disbelief. "Nice, right? He taught me how to manipulate the chakra I channel to the weapon. I can make it sharp enough to pierce through anything or blunt the tip to cause a bludgeoning effect. It was a bitch to master and that's all I can do at the moment. He visited us last week and told me that I'm still halfway to perfect but getting there." She admitted ruefully.

"I didn't know Naruto-sensei was that powerful. I mean, I know he is good since he taught my team a lot in a week but I didn't know he was this good." Sakura exclaimed in shock though he was inwardly proud of having a sensei in someone only 2 years her senior.

"He is though he is very modest. As far as I can tell, Naruto doesn't like to flaunt despite how good he is. Gai-sensei told us that Naruto turned down all promotions from the Hokage. He is considered a Jounin by the shinobi he works with due to his abilities. I don't know why he turned it down but I know that Naruto is just crazy to do so."

"He is somewhat eccentric." Sakura said with a giggle.

"Somewhat?" asked Tenten in disbelief.

"Fine, he is eccentric but in a good way." Sakura gave in.

"True that. Anyway, I think we better join our teammate and get to the exam room. The fight just ended." said Tenten seeing her sensei appear and stopping Lee from finishing his Lotus technique on the somewhat bruised Uchiha.

Sakura also saw the end of the fight before sighing.

"Fortunately for me, Naruto-sensei taught me healing so I can patch Sasuke up. He definitely needs to rein in his urge to fight all the time." Sakura said with a shake of her head.

"Boys." said Tenten, her eyes rolling and Sakura nodding in agreement as they made their way to the trio in the middle of the chamber.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"You got your butt kicked, didn't you?" Naruto asked a pouting Sasuke when Team 7 entered the exam room. The large classroom was filled with Genins from different villages and quite a few of them were eyeing him with trepidation, well, except for the red-head Suna Genin with a large gourd on his back since the boy was transmitting killing intent that would put most Jounins' to shame. Naruto wasn't affected though and found the intimidation tactic quite amusing.

"How come he's that strong?" Sasuke grunted out causing Naruto to sigh.

"Sasuke, you need to realize that you're not the strongest. There will always be someone stronger than you. Keep in mind that we are training to be powerful shinobi one day and our strength grows as we persevere. Lee is like that. He graduated a year early and has that time to hone his skills under the tutelage of his sensei. You and your team has only been Genins for four months. Even with the training program I devised for your team, you need to work on it to achieve the same level of strength Lee has." Naruto explained, oblivious to the fact that the entire room was listening to him now. "As a shinobi, it is not how powerful we are. It all boils down to what we can do with our power. Even with your Sharingan, admittedly a powerful doujutsu, Lee still defeated you because you can't match his speed and mastery of his taijutsu style. Your Sharingan can see him but your body can't keep up with his speed. Keep in mind that technique and experience trumps power any day."

"Easy for you to say, you're already strong enough to kick everyone's butt in this room." Sasuke couldn't help but point out.

"I wouldn't say that. I'm sure that these Genins have a trick or two up their sleeves that could put me down despite my skill. They might have to work for it but I'm sure they can achieve that if they can find my weakness." Naruto said with some amusement. "Besides, I trained my butt off when I started the Academy and never stopped, I have 9 years to hone my skills, growing every day not stopping to rest or to lounge around. I researched my techniques and trained with them every day, training to come up with different skills to back me up in a fight. I'm sure you'll attain the same strength if you continue to train. Besides, as a shinobi, we always improve. That's who we are."

"Well said." quipped Genin with ash-gray hair and wearing a pair of glasses. He was shuffling a deck of cards in his hands. "It's a surprise to finally see you in this exam."

"Why do you say that?" Naruto asked mildly, noting the amount of chakra the Genin was trying to suppress. It might have fooled everyone but not someone who mastered chakra. This Genin has chakra to rival Kakashi and then some.

"My name is Yakushi Kabuto." Kabuto introduced himself, not afraid of broadcasting his identity to everyone in the room. "It's quite a surprise to see someone of your caliber here, Naruto-sama."

Everyone turned to Naruto when they heard Kabuto add an honorific to his name. The blonde's eyes narrowed.

"Call me Naruto. No need for honorifics." Naruto told the teen. "I take it that you have information about me?"

"I do." said Kabuto as he fished out a card from his deck and held it out for everyone to see. In a puff of smoke, the blank card now had Naruto's face on it along with information at the bottom. "You're name is Uzumaki Naruto. Tokubetsu Genin. Mission record – 128 D-ranks, 30 C-ranks, 10 B-ranks, 10 A-ranks, and 1 S-rank. Known here in Konoha as the Chakra Sage and holds an entry in the Bingo Book as the White Shinigami of Konoha."

"You know too much for a Genin, Kabuto-san." said Naruto calmly though he was inwardly suspicious as to how a Genin have access to his mission records. He took a quick whiff and immediately smelled a slight scent of snake on the boy. His eyes narrowed. If the teen smell of snakes then he was either acquainted with Anko on a daily basis or… "As far as I know, access to mission records is strictly monitored by ANBU and the Hokage. It's quite suspicious for a Genin to have _accurate_ information that only a Kage should know."

Kabuto blushed though Naruto saw that it was faked.

"I didn't get my info from the Archives, Naruto-sama. I've been a Genin for seven years now and I value information no matter how trivial it is. I asked around when I find someone interesting and you're definitely interesting. Besides, most of the information I got was from the Bingo Book.

"I see. That's good." said Naruto with a smile though the boy's casual admittance screamed fake. He was so going to keep an eye on him and report this to the Hokage. "Carry on then."

Kabuto turned to the rest of the Konoha Genins.

"This exam is very dangerous. Suna, Kusa, Taki, and Kumo are attending the exam and we can safely say that they brought their best. There's even a contingent from a new village called Otogakure though I am sure that they're not as dangerous compared to the rest." Kabuto boasted. It was after this declaration that a masked Genin from Oto attacked Kabuto but was able to dodge it. However, everyone was surprised when Kabuto's glasses cracked and heaved his lunch on the floor.

"Oto is the strongest in the Elemental Nation. Put that in your cards." the Oto Genin growled as he readied himself to punch Kabuto but stopped when a blue chakra blade stopped him. If he moved an inch more, the tip of the construct would have pierced his throat. He fearfully looked up to see the chakra blade coming from the index and middle finger of one Uzumaki Naruto who had a smile on his face.

"I _suggest_ that you relax, Genin-kun. After all, it is not a good idea to pick a fight in a room of full of competitors." Naruto told the bandaged teen before releasing his hold on his construct causing the blade to disperse into particles before dissipating. "Why don't you just mosey along and go back to your teammates. The proctor just arrived to start the exam."

The stage was immediately engulfed in smoke before dissipating to reveal an intimidating man in a trench coat. Behind him was a squad of Chuunin glaring at all of them.

"ALRIGHT BRATS! NO FIGHTING OR YOU WILL BE DISQUALIFIED!" shouted Morino Ibiki. "GET A NUMBER AND TAKE YOUR SEAT! THE FIRST PART OF THE CHUUNIN SELECTION EXAM HAS BEGUN!"

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**End of Chapter 4**

**Leave a comment or a review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Here's Chapter 5. Enjoy!**

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or the technique he used similar to other anime. Give credit to where credit is due. **

* * *

**Chapter 5:**

Ibiki started collecting the papers from the examinees. Despite the fact that he already passed the 27 teams that Anko was now herding to the second phase of the exam, he wanted to read the answers to see how good these participants were. He took the paper belonging to the famous White Shinigami of Konoha and frowned. There was a trace of chakra on the paper that shouldn't be there. He was surprised when the chakra materialized in front of him, forming a message.

_**Ibiki, I left a chakra message on my test paper that can only be triggered by your chakra signature. There is a Konoha Genin in the exam by the name of Yakushi Kabuto. He has Jounin-level chakra reserves that I was able to sense despite how he tried to suppress it. He smells strongly of snakes and it's not from Anko. Also, Suna sent a jinchuuriki since his chakra signature is almost similar to mine. He should contain the Ichibi no Shukaku. Please inform Hokage-sama of this development. I will trail Kabuto in the second phase. **_

Ibiki was surprised when the floating message dissipated into nothing. He chuckled.

"Trust the Chakra Sage to do the impossible." the scarred Tokubetsu Jounin smirked before frowning. "I better inform Hokage-sama."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Naruto casually walked the undergrowth of Training Ground 44, fearfully named the Forest of Death by the local shinobi, not caring of the dangers the forest was rumored to contain. He wasn't afraid since he practically grew up here thanks to Anko's training and their many spars. For him and the Snake Mistress, this was their private grounds, their home away from home. He was lucky that the second part was in a familiar terrain, making it infinitely easy for him to navigate through the undergrowth as he made his way to the tower.

The second part of the Chuunin Selection Exams involved two parts. The first was to acquire one of the two scrolls – Heaven and Earth Scroll – completing the set. The second part was survival. They need to make it to the tower at the center of the forest within five days with both scrolls in order to pass.

It was a difficult test for the Genins.

For Naruto, this was literally a walk in the park.

He was already two hours into the exam without meeting any Genins that would be aiming for his Earth Scroll. In terms of numbers, he was at a disadvantage. In terms of prowess, the Genins were sitting ducks.

Whistling a merry tune while enjoying a smoke from the stack he stole from Asuma (the man had the best tobacco in this side of the Elemental Nations and he didn't tell Naruto where to buy them. Stingy Jounin), he was about to start on a second stick when a barrage of kunais rained down from above. Naruto jumped back to escape the barrage before raising an eyebrow when he saw two teams of Kumo Genins appear in front of him.

"It is a good strategy to team up for this part of the exam." Naruto calmly told his ambushers, sensing another a chakra source behind him but he ignored it. "However, don't you think it is unfair to team up against a single Genin?"

"We heard all about you White Shinigami." A Kumo Genin carrying a katana on his back growled. "The Raikage gave us strict orders to kill you when we get the chance."

"Eh? The Raikage wants to capture little old me?" Naruto asked in amusement and curiosity. "What did I ever do to your Raikage? As far as I know, I have no beef with Kumo."

"Shut up, tree hugger. You killed a lot of our Jounins. He wants you put down like the rabid dog you are." growled another Kumo Genin, this one slapping a large mace on his palm.

"Well, it's not my fault that my mission conflicts with theirs. I aim to incapacitate but since they aimed to kill me, I returned the favor." said Naruto as he lit another cigarette while dodging a shuriken and flipped back to evade a swing from a katana. He kicked the katana-wielding Genin on the head strong enough to knock him out before materializing a chakra-made kunai and throwing it in one smooth motion at another Genin approaching him from the back, blowing the Genin's head off since he created the kunai as a bludgeon instead of piercing. It would seem that the two teams in front of him were decoys while another one was hiding to ambush him. Not on his watch. "Two down, seven more to go."

"Get him!" growled the apparent leader as he flipped through hand seals. _**"Raiton: Thunder Ball."**_

A head-size ball of condensed lightning shot out of the Genin's outstretched palm, barreling towards Naruto at great speeds. However, Naruto was ready as he fired off a counter.

"_**Fuuton: Drilling Air Bullet."**_ The wind bullet overpowered the ball of lightning, easily destroying it and almost hitting another Genin who barely dodged it.

"He can do techniques without hand seals? That wasn't in the Bingo Book." the mace-wielding Genin exclaimed in shock. He was further shocked when Naruto appeared in a white blur with a solid grip on his head. "Shit!"

"Shit indeed." said Naruto before blowing the Genin's head off with a burst of chakra. "Three down. Six to go."

"Kaito!" screamed a Genin before lunging at Naruto with his tanto in the lead, the length of the blade was covered in lightning. "I'll kill you."

"Not if I kill you first." murmured Naruto as he dodged the thrust by swerving to the side, destroyed his opponent's elbow with a punch, before ending the teen's pain with a quick jab to the throat, destroying the boy's ability to breathe. "Five to go."

The remaining Kumo Genins surrounded him, flipping through hand seals for a combined attack.

"_**Raiton: Lightning Cage!"**_ they shouted in unison as a five-point cage of pure Raiton chakra surrounded Naruto.

"Useless." whispered Naruto as he channeled large amounts of Wind chakra all over his body. _**"Fuuton: Kamikaze."**_

A powerful tornado erupted around Naruto before expanding, easily destroying the lightning cage and slicing the remaining Kumo Genins to bits as they were thrown into the air. He ended the technique causing blood, bone, and human meat to fall to the forest floor.

"Kumo must have been desperate to send Genins after me. I'm insulted." Naruto mused as he summoned three chakra threads and flung them out. They attached to something before retracting them. He caught the scrolls he sensed from the corpses. He knew that the items were charged with chakra when he received his. Sensing them out was quite easy, as well as picking them out from the remains of Kumo delegates. "Hm, two Heaven and one Earth, so that makes two of each for me. Lucky day."

"_**You should have brought me out for some fun."**_ Kurama grumbled in his mind.

"_You know what jiji said."_ Naruto retorted.

"_**Crazy old coot. He's getting senile I tell you."**_

"_I'll be sure to tell him that."_

"_**Please do."**_

He sealed the scrolls into his storage tattoo before going on his merry way. It was still early to head to the tower so he decided to search for Kabuto.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Naruto didn't know if he was lucky or suffering from a severe case of bad luck. He was using his considerable tracking ability to look for Kabuto but he ended up finding Orochimaru instead. However, the moment he stumbled upon the Snake Sannin, he saw red. There, in the middle of a clearing was Orochimaru grinning like the sadistic schmuck with a somewhat battered Anko lying unconscious on the ground in front of him.

"Get away from her!" shouted Naruto as he descended on the startled rogue-nin with a Rasengan forming on his hands. However, Orochimaru wasn't a Sannin for nothing; he quickly dodged the attack before gulping when the ground he was standing on a few seconds ago was turned into a crater with a very protective and angry blonde scowling at him.

"White Shinigami." Orochimaru said with a smirk though he was inwardly tensing for a battle. Here in front of him was an enigma, a prodigy of prodigies. His spy informed him of everything about this boy and he grudgingly admitted that Naruto was more talented than him. After all, the boy has unparalleled control over chakra that he didn't achieve. It was unacceptable in his book. "Fancy meeting you here."

"I have no time for idle banter." whispered Naruto as he spread his arms to his side and channeling his chakra causing green threads to materialize from each of his fingers. "You hurt one of my precious people. You are going to pay."

With that, Naruto lunged forward at insane speeds that caught Orochimaru off guard. He used everything he had in his arsenal to dodge the boy's dangerous threads with the blonde doing everything in his power to slice the snake to bits. Orochimaru heard of them from Kabuto and Naruto's mastery over it. These threads were dangerous. He hastily replaced himself with a log when two threads wrapped around his torso. It was suffice to say that the log didn't stand a chance.

"I have no quarrels with you, boy!" growled Orochimaru as he sped through hand seals. "But if you want to fight then I will gladly show you why you are outmatched. _**Doton: Mud Bullets!**_"

Orochimaru spat out a dozen mud balls laced with chakra, speeding towards Naruto who looked at them calmly before raising a hand with a glowing sphere that was clearly not a Rasengan.

"Don't underestimate me, Orochi-teme." said Naruto as he let go of the glowing orb before kicking it towards the Sannin who was surprised when the ball disassembled into multiple small projectiles as it sped towards him. Some of the chakra marbles hit his mud bullets, destroying them easily. He sped through another set of hand seals before spitting out a glob of mud.

"_**Doton: Mud Wall!"**_

A dense wall of mud appeared in front of Orochimaru that stopped the barrage but it ended up destroyed when the last bullet hit. With his hastily raised wall destroyed, he had a clear view of Naruto in front of him but was suddenly gripped in both awe and fear at what he was seeing.

In front of him was Naruto holding one of his hands aloft. What scared him however was the 60-foot long and 2-foot thick glowing sword.

"Eat this!" shouted Naruto as he slashed downward along with the overly large chakra sword. However, he was shocked when Orochimaru's mouth opened wide for a small snake to come out and regurgitate the famed Kusanagi. In one flawless move, Orochimaru grabbed the sword and jumped towards the descending chakra weapon and easily sliced half of it to escape the attack.

"So that's the famed Kusanagi." Naruto said casually as he let the rest of the sword dissipate. "I didn't expect it to slice through my chakra blade easily even when I pumped it full of chakra."

"You clearly underestimate me, Naruto-kun. The Kusanagi can slice through anything!" mocked Orochimaru but raised an eyebrow when Naruto created two smaller blades with his hands but these ones were a curious mix of blue, brown, and green. _"Now what is he doing?"_

"Let's put that to the test shall we?" Naruto said casually as he charged at Orochimaru with one of his swords held forward in a thrust. Orochimaru growled as he attempted to slice the blade off before it could reach him but was quite surprised when he heard the distinct clang of metal when his Kusanagi met it, instead of cutting, parrying it to the side. He deftly raised his blade again when he saw the other blade about to slice his stomach open. This led to a furious dance of swords as Naruto flawlessly used his dual blades against Orochimaru's Kusanagi. Despite having double the firepower, Naruto was hard pressed in landing a clean blow on the Snake Sannin since the rogue expertly dodge his attacks with unnatural grace, speed, and flexibility.

Orochimaru growled as he ducked to avoid a slice that would have severed his head before lashing out with a kick that connected to Naruto's sternum. The blonde grunted before jumping back to regain his bearings since the hit was laced with chakra so it hurt a bit. He felt Kurama healing the bruise and the crack on his ribs.

"Why can't my Kusanagi cut your ridiculous chakra construct?" growled Orochimaru. This was the first time his Kusanagi failed him. _"What did the boy do?"_ he thought angrily.

"And you call yourself a scientist." mocked Naruto as he raised one of his blades. "But I am more than happy to answer your question. The Kusanagi can definitely cut anything but I reinforced my charka construct with the solidity of neutral chakra, the hardness of earth chakra, and the cutting power of wind chakra and kept the energy moving at high speed so any damaged made by your sword is repaired at a fast rate. Add these factors together and you have a powerful blade that can match your stolen blade."

"I will not let a young upstart mock me!" snarled Orochimaru as he slammed his hands on the ground causing a large smoke to materialize to clear a few seconds later to reveal a large snake with the Snake Summoner standing on top of its head. The sight of the snake made Naruto smirk.

"My turn, teme." Doing the exact same gesture as the Sannin, Naruto slammed his hand on the ground to summon his partner – Kurama – that easily matched the snake's size.

"**Finally you brought me out, brat."** said Kurama before seeing the suddenly fearful snake summon in front of him. He licked his chops before letting out a seductive purr. **"Hello…lunch."**

The Snake Sannin and his summon gulped when he saw the Kyuubi with all of his nine-tails looking at them as if they were the main course in a buffet.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

After bringing out Kurama, Orochimaru bolted and left his summon to deal with Naruto and a rather hungry bijuu. It was safe to say that Manda has one less snake in his army and Kurama enjoying a thoroughly barbecued meal ala snake.

After sending out chakra flare to alert the ANBU to Anko's location, he set off to resume his search of Kabuto. He didn't find the elusive 'Genin' but he did sense the Suna jinchuuriki's chakra but ignored it since he wasn't the target of his suspicions. It was two days later that he stumbled upon Team 7 and Lee facing off against the Oto Genins though he hid himself and observed the fight to see what Team 7 was capable off after their training.

The fight dragged on with Lee saving the day but was incapacitated by the one with bandages. Sakura was currently healing an unconscious Sai while Sasuke was pummeling a spiky-haired teen who brought ink-using Genin down. He wouldn't have minded the scene but the flame-like tattoos covering Sasuke concerned him. It definitely concerned him when Sasuke easily dislocated the Genin's arms with a sadistic smirk on his face. Naruto noticed the unconscious female that served as the third Genin from the Oto delegate.

"What in Kami's sagging bits is happening here?" shouted Naruto as he entered the clearing. He raised an eyebrow when Sasuke turned on him, the sadistic smirk turning into an evil grin that reminded him of Anko during one of her interrogation stint.

"Finally! A worthy challenger for my newfound power." crowed Sasuke before disappearing from his spot and appearing in front of Naruto in a burst of unholy speed, a punch already aiming to knock a few teeth out of the blonde's jaw.

Naruto frowned as he effortlessly batted the punch away and landed a chakra-enhanced punch to Sasuke's stomach that knocked the wind out of the possessed boy. He stepped to the side before rendering the teen unconscious with a chop to the back of the head.

"What happened to Sasuke?" Naruto asked Sakura as he laid Sasuke on the ground, noting the flame-like tattoos receding to the back of the boy's neck. His breath hitched when he recognized the tattoo. "No way! A Cursed Seal! How did he get it? Wait, now I know why the pedo is in the forest. Damn it!" he cursed.

"Orochimaru masquerading as a Kusa Genin attacked us. Sai was easily overpowered and Sasuke took him on. While I was tending to Sai, I saw Orochimaru bite Sasuke-kun's neck. He fell unconscious and just woke up a few minutes ago when we were attacked by the three from Oto." reported Sakura before moving to Lee and started healing him. "They said that they were targeting Sasuke for reasons I don't know and I don't know why Sasuke-kun is acting that way."

"I see." said Naruto before flinging his hand to the side, chakra threads flying out of his fingers at blinding speed. Someone cursed before that certain someone was yanked back, bound tightly. "It would seem that we have a survivor."

Dosu didn't know what happened. When Kin was knocked out by the pink-haired bitch, he immediately hid when he saw the Uchiha destroying Zaku. He planned to stay in hiding until they left to retrieve his teammates but was surprised when he felt something bind him and yanked out of his hiding spot. He grunted when he landed on the ground with a loud thud. He looked up to see someone that made him pale in fear.

"Shit!" Dosu cursed that amused his captor.

"Hello there." Naruto said cheerfully, twitching his finger causing the threads binding Dosu to tighten. Dosu screamed in pain when he felt two of his ribs crack. Naruto let the scream die down before asking his question. "What is your name?"

"I-I'm not telling you anything." growled Dosu, trying his hardest to ignore the pain his ribs were causing him.

"Wrong answer." said Naruto. He channeled a bit of Raiton chakra to the threads that electrocuted his captive. He didn't have enough control over his Raiton chakra but he had enough for interrogation. He ignored the screams before changing the threads' element back neutral. "Let me ask you again. Who are you?"

Dosu stayed silent but screamed his throat hoarse when Naruto channeled more Raiton chakra into the thread. He was about to pass out when the torture stopped.

"I merely asked for your name, Genin-kun. If you don't tell me then I will be torturing you for hours. Trust me, I can keep you conscious throughout our…session." Naruto warned. He made a mental note to thank Anko for the lessons in torture and interrogation.

"DOSU! MY NAME IS DOSU!" screamed the incapacitated Genin, hoping that he won't be tortured again.

"See? That's wasn't so bad." Naruto said cheerfully. "Now, why did you specifically attack Sasuke?"

Naruto electrocuted the boy again when he didn't answer, this time, spacing it out to avoid destroying the boy's mind. He was still in the middle of interrogation after all. It won't do for the…patient to die without telling him what he wanted.

"IT WAS OROCHIMARU-SAMA. HE TASKED US TO KILL THE UCHIHA!"

Naruto's face took on an icy mask as he channeled enough Raiton chakra into the thread to render the boy unconscious. He dispelled his chakra thread and turned to the trees.

"Neji, Tenten, you can come out now. Same goes for you Team 10."

Neji and Tenten jumped down beside Lee and Sakura as Team 10 composed of Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru, and Akimichi Chouji stepped out of the bushes.

"Thank you for saving Lee, Naruto-sama." said Neji.

"I didn't save Lee, Sakura did." said Naruto before turning his attention to everyone. "What scrolls do you have?"

"Why?" Ino asked suspiciously.

Naruto smiled to dispel the girl's worry.

"Worry not, Yamanaka-san. I already have the scrolls to pass this portion of the exam." As proof, Naruto unsealed his four scrolls for everyone to see. "As you can see, I have an extra set. It is dangerous here in the forest with Orochimaru prowling about. If you still lack a scroll then I will be more than happy to give you one of my own."

"We have an Earth Scroll." said Shikamaru, trusting Naruto immediately since he heard a lot about the teen from his father.

"We already have a complete set, Naruto." said Tenten, showing Naruto their scrolls

"Good." said Naruto as he tossed a Heaven Scroll to Shikamaru who caught it.

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it." said Naruto with a nod. "Sakura, what scroll do you need?"

"Earth." answered Sakura, catching said scroll when Naruto tossed it to her.

"Now that we all have our respective scrolls, let's proceed to the tower." Naruto told the three teams as he easily carried Sasuke and placed him on his shoulder.

"Is that allowed?" Chouji asked nervously.

"The only rule is that we acquire the needed scrolls and reach the tower before the time limit. Nothing was said about teaming up." Naruto told the chubby teen in amusement. "I suggest that you keep up." he instructed before running at Chuunin level speeds towards the tower with the rest following him.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Naruto's hands were in constant motions as he created various symbols in the air using nothing but his chakra. The Hokage, Kakashi, Anko, and Iruka were watching him as he created the fuuinjutsu formula he used to permanent seal off Anko's Cursed Seal. Naruto designed the fuuinjutsu matrix when Anko informed him of her burden, the Cursed Seal given to her by Orochimaru before he went rogue and escape the village. It took four months and thousands of clones to finally make one and it worked since Anko could no longer use the Cursed Seal no matter how much she tried. If it can't be activated then there was no way for its corruptive chakra to influence its wearer.

When the last seal was in place, Naruto placed a hand over Sasuke's Cursed Seal.

"_**Uzumaki Fuuinjutsu: Pillars of the Four Saint Beasts!"**_ shouted Naruto as the floating seals flew towards Orochimaru's hickey. Despite being unconscious, Sasuke screamed himself hoarse as the advanced sealing matrix grafted itself onto his skin surrounding the seal and anchoring to his chakra coil. It took a minute for the seal to run its course before dying down with the Uchiha slumping to the ground, twitching from the pain he was subjected to. "It is done."

"What was that seal, Naruto? I don't recognize the matrix." asked Kakashi as he moved to inspect his Genin. He learned a bit of fuuinjutsu from his sensei, the Yondaime, but he read on anything about Uzumaki Seals. The blonde kept surprising as more of his abilities were revealed.

"I'll be surprised if you did since I created it. I came up with this when Anko-sensei told me of her Cursed Seal. The _Pillars of the Four Saint Beasts_ is an advanced sealing array that uses my chakra to form a permanent bind around a target seal, rending it dormant. Since I used my chakra, only a counter seal created using my chakra can unlock it. This matrix is also attached to Sasuke's chakra coils so no matter how much the snake pedo tries, there is no way for him to remove the locking seal without killing Sasuke." Naruto explained as he unsealed a bottle of water from his storage tattoo before taking a long drink. "There is no way for Sasuke to access the seal's corruptive power with the lock in place. Orochimaru's influence is negated as well so he's out of the snake's grip before it could even get a hold on his psyche."

"Are you sure it works?" asked Iruka, eyeing the intricate tattoo on Sasuke's neck.

"It does." Anko answered with a smirk. "I tried using the seal but I can't get it to activate. With Naruto-kun's seal, the Cursed Seal is nothing more than a decorative tattoo."

"More like a hickey if nothing else." Naruto deadpanned before taking another drink.

"Wonderfully done as always, Naruto-kun. You definitely surpassed your parents in the sealing arts." the Sandaime praised the blonde who smirked.

"Thanks, jiji. I suggest that you let a medic look at Sasuke. He should be fully healed by the time the second phase ends." advised Naruto as he made his way out of the impromptu sealing chamber.

"Where are you going?" asked Kakashi after picking Sasuke off the cold floor.

"I'm going back home for a good long soak." said Naruto before remembering something. He turned to the Sandaime who looked at him questioningly. "I killed three Kumo teams back in the forest. It would seem that the Raikage ordered them to join the exam to kill me if I attended. Suffice to say, that muscle-bound moron just lost a part of his forces."

"He was always an idiot. A powerful shinobi but an idiot nonetheless." the Sandaime said with a sigh, massaging his temples as a headache was forming. This would result in more paperwork for him. Good thing that the Genins signed the waiver so there weren't any repercussions to their deaths – part of the exam and all that jazz. "I'll take care of it."

"Thanks, jiji." said Naruto before disappearing from the room in a fountain of blue light.

"Did Naruto just…" Iruka started, staring disbelievingly at the dissipating blue pillar in front of him.

"That's Naruto's _Chakra Shunshin_. He didn't like the smoke and leaves of the traditional _Shunshin_ so he created a new one from scratch." the Sandaime said with a chuckle as he led the group out of the chamber.

"He definitely came a long way, huh?"

"He certainly did and he has no plans of stopping anytime soon."

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**End of Chapter 5. **

**Like it? Love it? Hate it? Please leave a PM or a review.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Howdy folks. Here's chapter 6! Enjoy!**

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**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or the abilities in this story from other literary or animated works. Give credit to where credit is due. **

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**Chapter 6:**

Naruto yawned as he listened to Hayate explain the rules of the preliminaries match to lessen the numbers of participants for the third and last phase of the Chuunin Exams. He eyed the board on the wall with a bit of interest before smirking when the first match was called out.

"Hm, now this is going to be an interesting fight." Naruto said with a smirk which caused Sakura to look at him in question.

"Why do you say that, Naruto-sensei?" Sakura asked their team's pseudo-sensei.

"You're not going to drop it, are you?" Naruto deadpanned, annoyed at being addressed as sensei despite being somewhat true. Sakura's honorific garnered a lot of curious and surprised looks from the Genins who heard it.

"You already know the answer to that." Sakura harrumphed.

"I give up!" Naruto sighed before answering Sakura's question while keeping an eye on Sasuke as the boy finally discovered Akado Yoroi's ability to suck chakra. "Sasuke's opponent has a pseudo-bloodline that allows him to absorb chakra through his hands. This means that your teammates would have to work on mid to long range fighting or hit hard and fast at close range to bring him down. He can't afford to let this match drag too long since his stamina would take a beating."

"What do you mean pseudo-bloodline? This is the first time I heard of that." Sakura admitted. She read almost all the books in the Shinobi Library when she became a Genin but didn't find any reference to a pseudo-bloodline.

"Actually, I was the one who gave it a name." Naruto said proudly causing Sakura to gawk at him. "It's not really an official term but I call it when I see." Seeing Sakura's confused face, he decided to explain. "Alright, let me see if I can explain it. You already know for a fact that I am considered as the Chakra Sage, right?" Sakura nodded while those who were listening started backing up in fear.

They heard of the Chakra Sage and his other alias – the White Shinigami. Why in the world was he a Genin? Why was he in the exam? Is the Hokage mad? Many of the competitors gulped and starting praying to any deity who was listening that they wouldn't be paired up against the blonde.

"Hm, a bloodline is a unique hereditary ability. More or less, it allows a person to use a unique set of skills or abilities that others could not. For example, the Byakugan of the Hyuuga Clan gives them the ability to see through object that also results in giving them a 360 degree visions." He didn't broadcast the fact that there was a flaw to their perfect sight. After all, they were in a competition so being a tattle tale wasn't nice. "Same also with Sasuke and his Sharingan. A pseudo-bloodline is an acquired ability that behave similar to a bloodline. If the right conditions are met, anyone can create a unique ability through hard work, study, and practice. This is what Akado Yoroi achieved. He was able to turn his chakra into a magnet of sorts that sticks to an opponent's chakra and absorb it as his own. Besides, you and your teammates have a pseudo-bloodline as well."

"What?" exclaimed a surprised Sakura.

"Let me see. Tell me if I'm wrong, before I taught you the Tree Walking exercise, you only know the Leaf Floating and Leaf Sticking exercises correct?" Sakura nodded, not trusting her voice to answer. "You got the Tree Walking exercise in 10 seconds flat when you walked up your tree. No one has ever gotten that exercise in that short a time. This means that you are inherently capable of controlling your chakra, your small reserves notwithstanding. This is one the reason why I chose to teach you medical jutsu and genjutsu since your perfect chakra control would be a boon to you in those two fields. In regards to Sai, tell me this, are there any other shinobi or kunoichi in Konoha that can infuse chakra to ink and use it to create animated constructs?"

"Now that you mention it, Sai is the only one I know who can do that." Sakura admitted before turning to her teammate. "You're the only one who can use your ink jutsus, right?"

Sai nodded, his face showing no emotions though he was inwardly surprised at how accurate Naruto was in his summary. Chakra Sage indeed.

"Well, now that you understand the concept of pseudo-bloodline, take the time to interview some of the shinobi in Konoha, you will find out that there are plenty of them who acquired and cultivated such abilities." said Naruto before a smirk appeared on his face. "Oh look, Sasuke's done."

Sasuke was definitely done. He was able to surprise his opponent with a quick taijutsu attack that left Yoroi stunned before firing off small fireballs from his mouth with only one hand seal. After being declared the winner, Sasuke walked up to the stands where Naruto and his teammates were before the blonde addressed him.

"I see that you've been practicing. A bit weak still but you're getting there." Naruto pointed out with a smile that made Sasuke grin.

"I'm still working on familiarizing how my chakra is molded without hand seals so that's all I can do on such short notice." Sasuke shrugged nonchalantly but he was inwardly happy to achieve such a feat.

"I can definitely see that. You're in the right track. Give a year or two, you could do most of your jutsus without hand seals. Let me know if you need any tips." Naruto offered as he gave the Uchiha a pat on the back. "Did your hickey act up?"

"No. I'm grateful that you were able to seal it. Thanks…sensei." Sasuke said with a smirk since he knew that title was an annoyance to the blonde.

"Not you too!" Naruto mourned causing Team 7 to snicker.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Naruto was shaken awake by Sakura. The match after Sakura where both she and Ino knocked each other out was boring as hell. He took a nap after telling the resting Sakura to wake him up when it was his turn to show off.

"What is it?" Naruto asked groggily as he rubbed the grit out of his eyes.

"It's your match now, Naruto-sensei." Sakura told him with a smirk on her face since she already knew what's going to happen.

"Huh?" Naruto asked stupidly before his eyes strayed to the board. "Inuzuka Kiba. Must be Hana's little brother." He murmured before standing up and patting the back of his pants. He walked over to the railing to see his opponent already down in the arena with a cocky smirk on his face. "I better get this over and done with."

With that, he jumped high into the air and began his descent. However, instead of falling down, he used chakra to create invisible stilts that connected to the ground and gently lowered himself similar to an elevator garnering a lot of incredulous and surprised looks from the spectators. He touched the stone floor with his white coat flapping a bit before settling down, his hands not even exiting his pockets.

"Sorry for being late. I fell asleep." Naruto told Hayate who nodded.

"No worries. We didn't wait long anyway." said Hayate before going into a coughing fit which Naruto saw was faked. After all, he was the one who removed the swordsman's ailment a year back after studying the disease and coming up with a chakra-based technique to scoop the problem out of the man's lungs. "Are you ready?" The two nodded. "Fight!" he shouted before jumping out of the way since he didn't want to experience what Naruto was about to do to the poor boy.

Kiba settled down into a taijutsu stance while eyeing his overly calm opponent. His sensei, Yuuhi Kurenai, warned him to be careful of the blonde and to use everything in his power to defeat him. If it was starting to become dangerous then he should forfeit immediately. He didn't understand why he should so he ignored that order. However, he had no problems going all out since that was what he wanted to do to tell everyone in the area he was _the_ Alpha Male. It was a minute later that he finally lost his patience since Naruto was whistling without a care in the world.

"Hey! Aren't we going to fight?" Kiba growled in irritation causing Naruto to level his lazy gaze at him.

"Hm? Yes we are in a fight. I was actually waiting for you to make the first move." he drawled lazily. He punctuated his point by releasing a wide yawn of boredom.

A tick mark appeared on Kiba head before lunging forward with a loud cry, his clawed hands taking a swipe at Naruto's midsection in which the blonde didn't bother to block. Naruto merely jumped back a bit resulting in Kiba missing by a scant inch from his target. Growling in anger, Kiba attacked again, this time unleashing combos after combos that Naruto dodged with ease without any wasteful movements. He was also dodging Akamaru's lunges easily while keeping up with Kiba's attacks. To the spectators, they likened Naruto's move to a dance.

It was five minutes later that Kiba was slouched, panting from the effort of trying to hit his opponent who was looking for something in his many pockets. Akamaru was also looking quite winded from trying to get a bite out of the blonde was panting on his side, his tongue comically on the side of his jaw.

"Take me seriously, damnit!"

"I am…as soon as I find what I'm looking for…aha!" Naruto exclaimed triumphantly as he pulled out his hands to showcase the items he was looking for – a cigarette lighter and a pack of cigarette. He easily flipped the lid open with a thumb and made a chucking gesture causing a stick to pop out halfway from the pack. He pulled it out completely with his lips and lit it up with the lighter. He took a long pull before breathing out the smoke with a loud sigh. "That hits the spot."

Rage gripped Kiba and was about to attack when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Surprised, he looked over his shoulder to see his opponent standing calmly behind him. Flabbergasted, he looked at the area where his opponent was to find an afterimage already fading. What speed! He wasn't prepared when he felt the hand leave his shoulder before something impacted on the middle of his back sending him flying forward and crashing to the wall with a loud crack before sliding to the ground in the daze. He groggily pulled himself up, ignoring Akamaru who was whining beside him. He shook his head to get rid of the cobwebs before facing his opponent who was now giving him a serious look.

"Inuzuka Kiba. You are a very powerful Genin specializing in taijutsu and Inuzuka-based ninjutsu involving your canine partner. You will go far in your shinobi career. However," Naruto face took on a grim countenance. "You let your emotions rule you and your desire to fight will get you killed one day."

"What are you talking about?" growled Kiba. He felt so humiliated being treated like a kid whose hand got caught in a cookie jar.

"First, when the match started, you let my calm exterior fool you. Instead of being calm yourself and study your opponent, you immediately jumped to the conclusion that your opponent is not taking you seriously which is not true. Overridden by your emotions, you attacked me without bothering to plan nor did you take the time to study me and come up with ways to easily defeat me. With that said." Naruto disappeared to appear in front of Kiba with a hand on his chest. "You need to train more and control your emotions. _**Chakra Palm!**_"

A burst of pure chakra flew out of Naruto's palm to slam into Kiba's chest. Naruto drastically lessened the output since he wasn't aiming to liquefy the boy's organs; instead, he made it so that it had a bludgeoning effect. The resulting force of the blow blew Kiba back to the wall, spread-eagled with a crater behind him. He tilted his head to the side to dodge Akamaru aiming to gouge his eyes out and easily slapped the dog to the side with a bit of chakra added to knock the dog unconscious.

"Akamaru!" shouted Kiba despite the pain he was in. It felt like his body was hit by a sledgehammer.

"You don't have time to worry about your partner, boya." Naruto said lazily as he calmly placed a palm on Kiba's chest. "Go to sleep and think about your shinobi career carefully. I don't want to see Hana's brother dead in a ditch somewhere just because you let your instinct and emotions control you. _**Crash!**_" this time, Naruto let his chakra surged through the boy's body, shutting down his tenketsus while rendering the boy unconscious.

Naruto sighed again before placing his hands on his coat's pockets and strolled back to the stands, totally ignoring the silence that permeated the air and the announcement of his win coming from Hayate.

"_**That was harsh." **_came Kurama's voice in his mind.

"_It was meant to. Hana is a good friend of mine. I don't want her to cry because Kiba died a fool. If it takes a harsh beating to cram that lesson into his head then so be it."_

"_**Good point."**_Kurama mumbled before his tone took on a leering tone._**"Good friend huh?"**_

"_Shut up, Kurama."_

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Naruto sighed after finishing his tenth bowl of ramen. Today was his cheat day, a day where he could partake the Food of the Gods without limit. He was about to order his next bowl when he felt someone appear behind him.

"Anything I can for you ANBU-san?" asked Naruto without bothering to turn around, sighing since his day-off would be ending before it could even get started. It's been only two days since the preliminaries ended and his gut feeling was telling him that he won't be getting any rest anytime soon. Heck, he hasn't even started training yet though he made a mental note to rectify that soon enough. Being lazy wasn't really advisable considering what was going to happen in the future.

"Hokage-sama requests your attendance in his office, Uzumaki-san." said the ANBU before disappearing in a swirl of smoke and leaves.

"I guess I'll only be eating ten bowls today." Naruto murmured as he placed some money on the counter before calling out to the ramen chef who was already preparing his next bowl. "Thanks for the food, Teuchi-jiji."

Ichiraku Teuchi appeared from the back and frowned at the ten empty bowls on the table.

"You're going on a diet, Naruto-kun? I'll be out of business if you do." the chef said sadly causing Naruto to laugh.

"The day I stop eating ramen is the day I'm committing suicide, Teuchi-jiji." Naruto said jokingly, which in his mind, wasn't far off the mark. "Actually, I have to cut my cheat day short since the Hokage is looking for me."

"Ah. Carry on then." said Teuchi in understanding as he started ferrying the bowls to the back to be washed. "Come back when you're free, Naruto-kun. I don't want my number one customer to go hungry now."

"Will do." said Naruto before exiting the ramen stand. He decided to walk to the Hokage's office since he wasn't in a hurry. It took ten minutes to get to the Hokage's office and entered immediately since the old man was free. He noticed that the Hokage wasn't alone.

"Jiraiya-kyofu." he greeted the white-haired man in the room. It would seem that his godfather, Jiraiya of the Sannin, came back for another quick visit. He was mostly out of the village, sometimes for years on end because of his spy network – an important asset to the village. "When did you get here? I heard from jiji that you were in Kumo checking on your spies there."

"I was but decided to come home. I got here a few hours ago. You're looking good, gaki." said Jiraiya with a smirk. "I heard from sensei that you took care of the Uchiha's seal and advanced to the third round of the Chuunin Selections Exam. Good job."

"Thanks, kyofu. Besides, I took care of the Cursed Seal to give the pedophile a headache and to protect Sasuke. The kid is already coming out of his shell and it would be a shame for Orochimaru to ruin his future like he did with Anko." Naruto said with a smirk before turning to a relaxed Sandaime. "Why did you call me here for, jiji?"

"I didn't. It was Jiraiya who actually wanted you to come here and meet with him." replied the Sandaime, his eyes not straying from the scroll he was reading with a serious frown on his face. Naruto recognized the scroll as Jiraiya's report. Whatever was written inside must be serious for his surrogate grandfather to take it seriously. He decided to play ignorant since this wasn't his concern. Well, it wasn't his concern unless he was going to be involved in it in one form or the other.

"Oh? That's a first." Naruto noted as he eyed the grinning Toad Sage. "Well, I'm here now so what are we going to talk about?"

"I plan to take you out for a bit of training and I think its fine time that you get the last part of your father's legacy." Jiraiya told the curious teen.

"Last part of his legacy?" Naruto asked with a tilt of his head. "I already mastered the _Rasengan_ though I didn't add any element to it yet since I want to master some affinities before I do so. I know how the _Hiraishin_ works but I'm still coming up with my unique formula before using it since its draining to use father's shiki instead of my own. So…what legacy are we talking about?"

"You know that your dad can summon toads, right?"

Naruto perked up immediately.

"You're going to teach me how to summon?" Naruto asked in excitement. He spent considerable resources looking for a summoning contract. Ever since he learned of Anko's ability to summon snakes, he wanted to have an animal summon of his own. Sadly, Anko couldn't let him sign the snake contract because Orochimaru has the master scroll for the snakes. He used quite a lot of money for information on other summoning contracts but their owners wouldn't want to part with them being an important asset or a clan heirloom. This was also the reason why he created a pseudo summoning contract with Kurama.

"Of course. Considering how good you are with your chakra, I daresay that you'll get this done in no time flat and leaves us with plenty of time to work on other skills you want to improve. I heard from sensei that you still haven't mastered your unique taijutsu style."

"You got that right. Sparring with Anko can only do so much for my taijutsu and Kurama isn't really what you call a taijutsu expert to spar with." Naruto said dryly. Sure, he can learn a lot from Kurama due to being a fox, an animal with wild fighting instincts. But if he wanted to master his taijutsu style then he needed to fight with a taijutsu expert to do so. "If it's you then I am sure I can work out some of the kinks. So when and where are we going to do this?"

"Training Ground 41 should be available and big enough for summoning." the Sandaime offered before giving the two a long look. "Just don't destroy it. I have to dish out money for repairs if you do."

"We won't." Jiraiya replied. He turned to Naruto only to find him gone causing him to chuckle in amusement. "I guess he's too excited to wait. See you later, sensei."

With that, Jiraiya jumped out to the window after his godson while the Sandaime went back to his reading.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"**JIRAIYA! WHY THE HELL DID YOU SUMMON ME?"** shouted a furious Gamabunta after he was summoned by Naruto on his first try. Naruto was on top of his head with a triumphant smirk on his face though from the toad's reaction, Gamabunta didn't know he was the one who summoned him.

"Jiraiya-kyofu didn't summon you, Gamabunta-sama. I did." said Naruto from his perch on the giant toad's head.

"**Eh? Who are you, gaki?"** asked Gamabunta prompting Naruto get off the toad's head to the ground to give the huge toad a better view of him.

"Uzumaki Naruto, or if you prefer Namikaze Naruto, the son of Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina." Naruto introduced himself with a polite bow to the talking amphibian. "As I said earlier, I was the one who summoned you." To drive his point home, Naruto released the full force of his chakra causing a pillar of blue energy to erupt around him, startling the Toad Boss.

"**I believe you kid."** Gamabunta grunted while his thoughts were going haywire. _**"Damn. He has enough chakra to summon me ten times with plenty more to spare. He is definitely Minato's boy."**_

"Do I have your permission to become the next Toad Summoner, Gamabunta-sama?" Naruto asked the giant toad politely. He knew that summon animals demands respect from their summoners and this was no exception.

"**Respectful. I like you, gaki. Yes, I give you permission to become our summoner. However, we have to seal the deal by having a drinking binge together."**

Naruto gulped.

"Uh, I don't think that's possible Gamabunta-sama. Considering your size, I don't think I can handle that much alcohol in me." Naruto said a bit nervously. Sure, he could drink but not that much. He would practically explode if he tried.

"**Ha ha ha! You're right, gaki. I'll waive the ceremony then."** the toad boomed before looking around. **"Where is the pervert anyway?"**

"He ran as fast as he could that way when I summoned you instead of a small toad." Naruto deadpanned, pointing at the dust cloud produced by a fleeing Jiraiya.

"**GET BACK HERE, YOU PERVERT."** Gamabunta screamed at the man before taking off in a giant leap, causing a mini earthquake when he landed. Naruto distantly heard a girlish scream coming from the same direction before shaking his head at his godfather's childish antics.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Naruto spent the rest of the month learning about the toads. Since the lessons was between him and the toads he summoned, Jiraiya left him alone. The blonde didn't mind since there was nothing his godfather could teach him at this point in time though he haggled a day a week for a spar to hone his taijutsu.

Unlike other summoning animals, the toads were considered one of the strongest due to their diverse capabilities. Unlike some that specialize in one or two skills, the toads were a big family with different capabilities. For example, Gamabunta was a ninjutsu and kenjutsu specialist, as well as being the powerhouse in Suiton jutsus. Some have unique abilities, like _Mise Gama (Shop Toad_) that served as an inn, _Moguri Toad (Diving Toad)_ for his infiltration techniques, and the _Great Toad Sage_ with his prophetic abilities (if you can get him to remember what he was talking about). He also met Ma and Pa Toad when he summoned them from Mt. Myobokuzan.

Naruto had fun learning the toads' capabilities and trying to find ways to work it with his own arsenal of techniques. So far, the only thing he achieved during the month were collaboration techniques, mainly Fire and Oil, or Wind and Fire – both combination resulting in wide-spread area destruction that Naruto found intriguing. He also learned of Senjutsu from Pa Toad and the required training to use Nature Chakra that served as the foundation of the Sage Arts. Pa revealed that Jiraiya, despite the years being the Toad Summoner, wasn't able to complete the training but he was still considered a Sage. Naruto was looking forward to Sage Training since this was a new experience for him.

After all, if he was considered the Chakra Sage after all so it is only right to learn and harness Nature Chakra.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Three days before the exam, Naruto was currently on his way to visit Lee. Gaara practically destroyed Lee's shinobi career by crushing the boy's bones and muscles, not to mention the damage he sustained for opening the Gates. He made a mental note to ask Jiraiya and the Sandaime if it was possible to bring Tsunade back to the village considering how the woman hated Konoha for taking away his lover and brother. He met Tsunade once during a mission and practically beat her at poker. She definitely earned her title as the Legendary Sucker. He would get her himself if he has to because he didn't want Lee to quite his shinobi career. Besides, Lee was the only Genin in Konoha that could give him a challenge in taijutsu being Gai's protégé and a training nut that rivaled his own.

His eyebrow rose upon entering Lee's room when he saw Gaara beside the sleeping Lee's bed, his sand already creeping up on the boy with an obvious intention of killing him.

"If I didn't know any better, I would say that you bat for the same team, Gaara-san." Naruto finally spoke. He felt the shift in chakra when the sand on Lee changed direction to wrap around him instead, ready to crush him. However, Naruto released a quick burst of his chakra that pushed the sand away from him and nullifying the energy that controlled construct. The sand fell to the floor harmlessly. "I wouldn't do that if I were you, Gaara-san. This is a hospital so fighting is not allowed."

"Why do you interfere?" asked Gaara coldly, his sand hovering around him, preparing for another attack.

"Interfere with what?" Naruto said calmly as he placed the basket of fruits on the bedside table and removing the sand from the sheets. "Killing a downed opponent?"

"Yes. He has to die to prove my existence."

Naruto was silent as he stared at the boy.

"Sabaku no Gaara, the youngest of the Yondaime Kazekage's children; the Ichibi no Shukaku sealed inside you when you were a baby, giving you the ability to use wind and sand effectively. You instinctively combine sand and wind for your absolute defense, as well as giving you many sand-based attacks." narrated Naruto. He interrogated his godfather for any information he had of Gaara since it was quite possible that he would end up fighting him in the finals. "You have assassins after you from your own village since you could remember and you changed from a frightened boy into a killing machine of mass destruction when someone close to you tried to kill you on orders from the Yondaime Kazekage, your father. Should I continue?"

Gaara couldn't believe what he was hearing. This insect knew him and he was still calm about it. Why wasn't he afraid?

"You know too much. I must dispose of you." said Gaara but before he could react, he felt something cover him from head to toe, effectively immobilizing him. He couldn't believe that his sand didn't react to this. He saw numerous blue strings coming out of Naruto's fingers.

"With your current mindset, there is no way you can defeat me Gaara. How could you? I was able to bypass your famed defense and if I channel enough Fuuton or Raiton chakra into my threads, you'll end up sliced meat or a charred corpse. Besides," said Naruto as he did a few one hand seal causing something to appear on his head in a haze of red chakra. The chakra combined to form Kurama, his nine tails dancing behind him as he glared menacingly at Shukaku's containers. The fox looked quite menacing despite in chibi form "You may have the one-tail inside you, my brother, but I have the nine-tails as a partner and comrade. You're out of your league."

Gaara stared in fear at the nine-tailed fox on the blondes head. He winced when his head was filled with his 'mother's fearful ramblings.

"Mother is afraid of you." Gaara said suddenly, eyeing the fox.

"**Hmph. The voice you're hearing is not your mother, kid. You're Shukaku's container so it is only reasonable that he's trying to influence you."** Kurama said with disdain. Despite being his brother, he never did like Shukakus self-destructing tendencies. **"Being sealed in that kettle for a decade must have rattled his brain or something."**

"That shouldn't be possible…wait a minute, don't tell me you were given a faulty seal?" Naruto asked incredulous. He was a Seal Master and seals used to create jinchuurikis should be powerful enough to stop mental intrusions from their beasts. What in the world was happening here?

Gaara gave him a questioning look.

"I don't know what you're talking about." said Gaara in confusion before feeling the binds around him dissipate. "What?"

"Show me your seal, Gaara-san." Naruto demanded, his anger rising at the thought of someone in Suna deliberately giving Gaara an incorrect, or worst yet, a faulty seal.

"Why?" Gaara asked, fidgeting when he felt the anger Naruto was exuding. Seeing Gaara getting uncomfortable, Naruto took a deep breath to calm down.

"A jinchuuriki is a bijuu's container and should have a seal that can stop mental intrusions from your beast unless you initiate it. The seal should suppress the bijuu to the point that it does not influence the container. Similar to mine, your seal should allow you to block any form of contact with your tenant even if you're using his power. If you are hearing voices in your head then we can safely say that it's Shukaku and the seal you have is not stopping him from doing so. I want to see your seal so I can check the problem, and if possible, correct it."

"**That's a good idea, kit. Besides, it should give Gaara some sleep time without the overgrown raccoon taking over. His eye bags are so dark that he looks like a raccoon."** said Kurama, eyeing Shukaku's container speculatively.

"That's a possible side-effect of having Shukaku whispering to him every day." mused Naruto before turning to the redhead. "So Gaara-san, would you mind if we go somewhere so I can check on your seal?"

"Why should I trust you?" the sand jinchuuriki asked wearily. He wasn't one to trust easily even if he was faced with a friendly face. A powerful friendly face.

"Aside from the fact that I could have killed you already when I had you bound in my threads? You shouldn't but it is a good idea if you trust me on this. " Naruto replied rhetorically with an amused expression on his face. "We are practically brothers. We are both jinchuuriki so I don't see why we shouldn't help each other."

Gaara stared at Naruto for a few minutes before nodding.

"I will show you the seal."

"Good, let's head to a training ground since I don't want any interruptions while I try to figure out what's wrong with it." said Naruto before making his way to the window. "Follow me." he told Gaara before jumping out with the redhead trailing behind him.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Naruto cursed to the high heaven after taking a brief glance at Gaara's seal when the redhead showed him.

"**What's wrong, kit?"** asked Kurama in confusion. Despite being the most powerful bijuu in the Elemental Nations, he couldn't make a hide or hair of fuuinjutsu no matter how much he tried. He did try with Naruto teaching him but it was a wasted effort since the idea wouldn't stick.

"Whoever did the sealing was either suicidal, just plain stupid, or did it on purpose." answered Naruto before cursing again, oblivious to the confused look on Gaara's face.

"Explain." said Gaara, wanting to know what's going on despite enjoying the curses coming out of his…brother. He made a mental note to try some of them since they were quite…colorful.

Naruto took a calming breath before answering.

"The seal you have is called the _Three Pillar Suppression Seal_. It is a _basic_ seal for temporarily suppressing a bijuu's chakra within a host. In most cases, there should be other seals added to it to make it more effective. The _Three Pillar Suppression Seal _effectively seals a bijuu's power but not its consciousness. In other words, you can safely use ALL of Shukaku's chakra without any side-effects but Shukaku can easily connect to your mind and influence you, hence the lack of sleep. That is the reason why you are hearing his voice. To summarize – your seal is a power block but it lacked its opposite, a mental block." explained Naruto. "Tell me, what was the last time you had any sleep?"

Gaara blinked before answering.

"Sleep? I never sleep." He answered causing Naruto to stare at him in horror.

"So you haven't had any decent sleep ever since?" the blonde asked immediately, wincing at the idea of spending twelve years without a restful night's sleep.

"As far as I can remember, sleep is something I haven't done." Gaara said with a shrug as if it wasn't anything new.

"Damn it. We are fixing that seal right now." Naruto declared. "Take off your shirt, Gaara."

"Why?" asked the redhead but he was already taking off his shirt, revealing the small seal matrix on his shoulder.

"So I can fix your seal right now. I'm going to upgrade your seal with a mental blocker so you can lock Shukaku out of your mind if you want to. Meaning, you won't be hearing any voices unless you want to converse with him or shut him up entirely so you can get some sleep." explained Naruto before seeing sand on Gaara's skin. "While you're at it, you might as well take off the sand armor protecting you; the seal I'm planning to add must be directly applied on your old seal."

Gaara nodded as he disengaged his sand armor. It peeled from his skin before dissolving into sand grains and flying back into his gourd. He ignored his mother…no…Shukaku screaming at him to kill the blonde container. Even Gaara had the common sense to ignore that. He wasn't stupid enough to engage someone who could easily kill him or to upset Kyuubi who was currently staring at him intently like a guard dog. It was a humbling experience to face two individuals more powerful than him.

"I'm ready."

"Good. Let the sealing begin." said Naruto as he channeled chakra to his finger, drawing a series of seal matrix with a blank area in the middle. He used his chakra to place the script over Gaara's old one; he made a few more corrections until he got everything correctly. All that was needed was to activate the seal to link it to Gaara's. "This is going to sting a bit. _**Uzumaki Fuuinjutsu: Mutsugami Yokusei no Fuuin!**_"

Gaara bit back a scream when he felt the glowing seal matrix embed itself onto his skin. He could practically feel his body burn as foreign chakra surged through his coils before making its way to his head. He felt something click as the pain left him, falling to his knees and panting from the strain his body just went through. He gasped, finally realizing that he couldn't feel or hear the presence in his head that has existed since his childhood.

"I can't hear him anymore. I don't feel him anymore." Gaara said with some amazement.

"The sealing works then. I'm proud to inform you that you are no longer under the influence of a bloodthirsty Shukaku." Naruto said proudly before a thought occurred to him. "Try using your sand techniques please to make sure everything is working correctly."

Gaara nodded with a smile on his face as sand flew out of his gourd to cover him like a second skin. He grinned as he created a couple of sand shuriken before throwing them at Naruto who dodged them easily while giving the sand-nin a questioning look.

"Since you want me to test my sand then shouldn't it be wise to use it in a spar….brother?" Gaara suggested, liking the feeling of being in full control of his body without Shukaku muddying things up.

Naruto grinned as stretched his hands to the side, fingers outstretched before manifesting his chakra threads.

"I like the way you think, brother." said Naruto before lunging at top speed with Gaara doing the same, his sand flanking him for an attack.

* * *

**End of Chapter 6.**

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